The Whole Truth, And Nothing But
by Ryuu S
Summary: Nick's past is about to come to light because of some nosy morons and backstabbers. In which the CON books are 'read', and the Jury decides whether to flambe Nick's Cajun hide for playing with time (although Ambrose is to blame) or rule that desperate times called for some serious desperate measures...
1. Intro-Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

 **Why am I writing this. Why am I doing this to myself...Oh, wait, that's right, 'cause I shared this idea with my brother who now really wants to read this. And for him to read this, I have to write it first. And so, fellow readers, you learn the truth: I write for my siblings' amusement. Love you, bro. I've uploaded the damn chapter. Are you happy? I sure as hell hope so.  
**

 **Yes, I am spreading myself thin with my stories. But I want to write all of 'em...so I hope no one minds. Please don't hate me for writing this when I need to update JoCM and MoAM more often.  
**

 **So, setting the scene for this story:**

 **The main character is DH Nick/Ambrose from 2015 or thereabouts. If you haven't read the entirety of the DH Series (Up to DragonBane)...**

 **STOP READING.**

 **Now.**

 **Please.**

 **Spoiler Alert.  
**

 **Seriously, I do not want to spoil any part of this series for anyone, and I'll probably write something that does that. So be warned. Also, things might not even make sense if you haven't read the DH series.  
**

 **Now, why am I also listing this story as a CON fic? Because...well...It's everybody in the _future_ reading the _CON books_. Sorry, it's the only way I saw this story working out in my head, even though it sucks not everyone will be able to read this without getting a spoiler. I strongly suggest you read the DH books first, and if you're not old/mature enough, to wait until you ARE old/mature enough to enjoy the DH books to their fullest. Or you'll be traumatized trying to read _Acheron_ and _Styxx..._**

 **On second thought, I take that back; no one can read Ash and Styxx's books without being emotionally gutted. But seriously, wait until you're older. For all you folks who have...enjoy! Maybe. Please read and review, and point out spelling mistakes! If this doesn't go over well, I'll just list it as a DH fic.  
**

 **Also, thanks to BlueCinder for inspiring me to write one of my own. (I actually didn't care for these kinds of fics until I read hers. Sorry, bro.)  
**

 **I swear, if I find any horrid spelling or story errors...*Curses incoherently***

 **Mrs. Kenyon Owns Everything, DH/CON And whatever else is hers. Which is how we like it.**

 **0000**

Alright, so maybe the whole 'going back in time' thing _had_ sort of been his idea. Technically.

If, of course, Nick claimed the psychotic asshole he becomes in a few centuries (Ambrose) _him;_ but that was out of his control, and frankly, Nick was insulted that he loses his last three brain cells in the future and does something so tantamountly _stupid_ that he'll never recover from the after-effects...

Putting Nick's future existential crisis aside, this was _not_ his idea.

Nicholas Ambrosius Aloysius Gautier stood in the marbled hall of Savitar's Island where he'd been summoned, staring not at the Omegrion (which was the governing body of the Were-Hunters that normally met here and Nick had nothing to do with), but the familiar faces of his adopted family and crew of ex-friends. Some of the Deveraux's, The entire Parthenopaeus crowd, some ex-Dark Hunters- Kyrian and Valerius, namely- along with some others who must have tagged along.

How had this happened? Nick mulled over the past five minutes, trying to calm himself.

Sav had summoned Nick to his island.

Acheron had accused him, Nicholas Gautier, of messing with time. Not quite, but how the hell had Ash learned that?

Acheron claimed it came form a valid source.

What source? Nick had asked.

One he wouldn't divulge just so they could be killed by an irate Cajun, Ash responded.

Why was everyone here? Nick questioned.

 _To Judge you._ Not Acheron's words- Bethany's. Bathymaas, the original Goddess of Justice.

 _Nekoda's mother._

Everyone, the people he knew and some of which he still claimed to love, were here to judge him.

For something that wasn't his fucking fault. (Entirely).

Yeah, this was _not_ his idea of a good time. Nick breathed deeply, trying to keep a leash on his temper, and focused on something different-the people who weren't there, for one.

The Peltiers. Mark and Bubba obviously weren't here. Artemis wasn't present, thank God; he didn't want to deal with her right now. His Usumga-

Scratch that.

Nick narrowed his eyes on Aeron, who was making a pathetic attempt to hide behind Cadegan.

 _Stop using your nephew as a shield, asshole._

Aeron used his eyes to plead his case, trying to avoid garnering anyone else's attention.

 _I'm not apart of this, Boyo. I was dragged along. I swear, I am not stabbing you in the back._

Like that changed anything?

Nick eyed Seth and his wife Lydia in the center of the Parthenopaeus bubble. Of course Savitar would summon them to rend judgement on him; not like his father hadn't screwed Seth over in _the worst_ way possible. If anyone had any right to be pissed at the Malachai line (other than Xev and Caleb), it was him. And here Nick had thought he might have smoothed things over and made up for his father's dip shit ways. Apparently not.

Pushing that dismal thought away, Nick turned his ire on Ash, who was glaring at him in equal measure. Probably wondering how much BBQ sauce he needed to Flambe his Cajun hide.

Speaking of BBQ sauce...Simi wasn't in the room. Nick could sense her with Danger and Alexion in the next room over, where they must have set up as the nursery of sorts and were babysitting everybody's rugrats; Nick doubted half the parents would be here unless their kids were properly secured. But why would they set up a nursery and bring their kids? Surely, damning him to hell wouldn't take _that_ long.

 _Not like I'm in Hell already._

"So that's it? You're not even going to ask for my side of the story? Not reading me my Miranda Rights? What kind of a court is this, and can I call my lawyer?" Nick snarled, crossing his arms and cocking his hip.

 _Screw it._

Even the damned had a right to a fair trial.

"You're right punk. The damned should have a right to a fair trial. Which is why all these undesirables are all gathered _here_." Savitar stretched on his throne, his legs thrown lazily over the side of the armrest, dressed in his usual Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. Nick was mildly surprised he wasn't wearing a wetsuit. Not that it boded well for him. If Sav was dressed for _people_ , that meant things would drag out longer than Nick wanted.

And Nick _really_ didn't like the tone in Sav's voice.

Savitar eyed him as if he heard Nick's thought...which he probably had."Sucks to be you then, kid, 'cause you're _really_ not going to like the next ten minutes. Or days."

Before Nick could respond, Menyara moved to the front of the group and turned to face them, strategically placing herself in front of Nick to protect him from the group of beings who were slowly losing their patience as the seconds ticked by. The issue of time and how it was dealt with was a serious matter, and no one present would dare do such...except, you know, idiot future Ambrose. And Savitar, but who was keeping track?

Of course, it's not like Nick _needed_ Mennie's protection from any of them. 'Malachai' wasn't exactly synonymous with 'roll over and take it'.

Menyara flicked her eyes over to him.

"Calm down, Nick."

 _Oh._

Icy realization filled his veins. So that's how it was; she wasn't there to protect him, but to protect the everyone else from _him_. Flippin' figures. How could he have forgotten the criminal treatment, even for a moment?

He ignored the stab of pain that wrought; he didn't need anyone reminding him that as a genetic fuck-up, he needed to be tranqued and put down before he tore some pathetic person in half for sneezing. He shook his head and forced those thoughts away, and instead focused on what Menyara had moved on to say.

"If Nick is to be judged…" She glanced over to Styxx and Bethany, who stood side by side holding hands. Menyara breathed deeply before continuing. "Then those who wish to stand in Judgement of him must hear the whole and unabashed truth. From the beginning."

 _Wait._ Nick thought.

 _Waaaiit a sec._ He sucked in a breath as own eyes flicked to Styxx and Bethany, passing over Urian to scan the whole room in an instant before settling his eyes on Menyara's small frame in front of him.

No. She couldn't be thinking what he assumed she meant.

 _No._

That word was too simple- a single syllable- to encompass that absolute rejection Nick had of this entire plan, this fiasco. The feeling of panic that crept into his lungs as he realized that things he kept from people for a fucking reason would have to be told to everyone he loves and loved, and any dwindling respect left to him by the people who swore they were his family (and then promptly treated him like a threat the moment 'Ambrose' had awakened as the Malachai- because teen-Nick has yet replaced any of his adult memories-) would be washed down the drain.

What respect and trust would be left to him, when they realized the full extent of everything he knew but never mentioned? All the secrets he had kept by pure accident or on purpose? Normally, Nick wouldn't care. He liked being a BA asshole and had almost gotten used to the concept...But not at the cost of everyone's dwindling trust in his eroding sanity.

 _No way in Hell._

And not, _for the love of God_ , in front of Nekoda's parents. Her brother. He knew what teen Nick was doing in the past with her -Nekoda- was a mistake. He had already been thrown through a wall and cursed to die because of one daughter, he damn sure didn't need to know what would happen when Styxx found out about Kody.

Except, maybe unlike Ash, Styxx might actually kill him this time. Or Bethany would.

That thought actually made him relax. Happy, even. Styxx or his wife would realize he had dated their baby girl, and would kill him. Or Urian would slit his throat. End of story.

Peace at last.

 _No, bad Nick!_ He thought, scolding himself. If he died, then the world was screwed. So as much as he wanted to…

 _Bad move._ Which meant, for obvious reasons, he needed to stop this ball game before it got started.

"If we're talking about me telling _them,"_ he gestured at the Atlantean family in front of him before waving his hand at everyone else, "about what really happened...how about no, Mennie. I'd rather they mark me down as guilty with a capital G and stake my ass to an erupting volcano. No, in fact, I'd rather they hand my ass over to the asshole who's name I can't say and call it a day."

Yeah, that might actually be more enjoyable than watching everyone's faces as he told them the truth. Screw the whole 'the truth and nothing but the truth' mentality.

Menyara shook his head at him, as if he misunderstood.

"Not tell them. _Show_ them."

Show them? _How the hell..._ Nick's thought trailed off as he realized why they were gathered at Savitar's Island, of all places.

Not only was it secure and normally used by the Omegrion for Judgement, Savitar had the power to show them all Nick's past like it was a damn movie. Even though there were others with that power, Savitar was a Chthonian and far enough away from Nick emotionally that he'd be mostly unbiased in his power. He hoped. Styxx would also be a good bet, but it's possible he didn't have as good a handle on his new powers yet. And once he learned about Kody...yeah, that wouldn't end well. Nick would turn into a Nicolette.

"Not happening."

Ash raised a brow at Nick's immediate response. "What? Have something to hide?" He asked, a threat lying underneath his breezy tone of voice.

"And you don't?" Nick retorted. A low blow, but he wasn't in the mood to play this game.

Ash let out an irritated breath."Right now, what you're 'hiding' could cost us the lives of our families and friends. Messing with time isn't a fucking game, Cajun. Thousands upon thousands of lives could be lost by a single misstep."

Nick couldn't believe this.

"You're preaching to the damn choir. Of all the people you could lecture to about this, _Acheron_ ," he growled out in between clenched teeth, making sure to use a full Greek pronunciation of the name to piss Ash off, "I am not one of them. I know the dangers, I know the consequences, and I have spent my entire _fucking life_ trying to FIX what all of _you_ keep screwing up!"

Nick hadn't meant to raise his voice at the end, but it echoed throughout the chamber.

Ash frowned at the last bit.

"What do you mean, 'Your entire life'? That makes-"

"-No sense, if you didn't know what we do." Menyara stated, cutting Ash off before he could finish his thought. Menyara gazed around the room.

"I understand all of you are angry, and seeking a proper punishment for the person who has ripped the fabric none of us are allowed to touch. But you need to understand what happened. It's...not that simple. And not Nicky's fault. Not entirely. Please. I implore you to see his life as he lived it. Then judge him for the actions he has taken, right or wrong."

Savitar yawned and stood.

"There you have it folks. Pull up a chair, conjure some bean bags, pop that corn, and get comfy 'Cause we're gonna be here awhile. Unfortunately." He glared at Menyara. "You just had to crash at my place, didn't you? Do I have a 'Come one, Come all' sign on my door? No. Is this a Limani? No. What the hell did I do to piss you off? You do realize I'm missing some serious waves off the coast of Hawaii right now?" Menyara pouted and pressed her palms together as if to pray.

"Remember, Sav...you like me."

Savitar growled. "Negatory. Not today, I don't." He looked at the group of people who had yet to move. "Did I stutter? Summon some damn bean bags, because you poor morons are booked until dinner time. And since it's currently morning, you're in for the long haul." Savitar summoned a couple of papers and a large movie theater screen ***** that he placed in front of his large, French styled double doors...mostly so that he didn't have to move away from his throne. What could he say? It was his spot.

The rest of the beings grumbled their complaints, but soon enough there were love seats, bean bags, fluffy blankets and couches being summoned.

Because if Sav had to give up the surf for any length of time, he meant business, and that meant you followed his orders or you became a stain on the wall.

Ash continued to stand, as if waiting for Nick to make a move before he did anything. Savitar sighed and shook his head. "Trust me, Grom. You'll want to be sitting for this."

Ash straightened and looked back at Savitar. The last time the Chthonian had said anything of that regard, in that tone of voice, Ash had learned that his twin brother had not only been to Atlantis more times than he cared to remember, but had been officially tortured for a year and brutally bought and sold for the majority of his life.

Basically, it was the tone of voice that foretold life altering details that still made him feel like complete and utter shit years later. Which didn't do anything to offset his sudden anxiety.

Ash looked back at Nick, who met his glare with a fervor of hatred Ash could only guess was fueled by his own person. A bad feeling settled in his stomach.

What the hell had he done this time…?

 **000000**

Nick didn't wait for Ash to move, or for him to sit down next to his wife Tory, who was munching down on a pizza Urian had conjured. He immediately flashed to the back of the room, near Savitar's throne, where Nick wouldn't have to feel their eyes on his back. He didn't need to be in front, regardless.

Nick had seen everything up close and personal before in the first go-round, and Malphas was was right: Re-loop's a bitch and whoever created it needs to go to the lowest level of Tartarus to rot and die a grisly death.

What he needed to focus on was who had told Ash about Ambrose's blatant stupidity. Someone had it out for him, and he needed to know who….Grim? Lagurre? Could that bitch still be after him? Of course she could, what was he thinking?

"Here."

Sav tossed Nick a couple of papers stapled together, 'Prologue' being printed in bold on the front page.

"Okay, folks. Ladies and Gents. Others. Eyes on me. Quick run down of the rules: Most of you know them, but for sanity's sake I'm repeating them and adding new ones. 1. No leaving this chamber and exploring, unless you have kids being baby sat in the next room over. But here and there are the only places you get freebies; anywhere else, and you give me permission to smite you." Savitar paused in his lecture as something occurred to him. "Actually...on second thought, please explore, that way I have an excuse to kill you."

Menyara growled at him from where she sat with her niece, Bethany. "Be nice, Sav."

Savitar scoffed at her. "Uh-uh, Mennie. Not after you ruined my surf day. They piss me off, they die. That's rule number 2."

"Pretty immature rule." muttered Ash.

"You say something, Grom? Speak up, I couldn't hear you." Ash grinned and tilted his head up to look behind him.

"Just saying you have an interesting set of rules. So, number 3?" Savitar rolled his eyes.

"Yea, not what you said. Rule number 3: No fucking trash. I ain't cleaning up after you ass-wipes. No breaking my shit, either. It's expensive, and the price is more than your life. Number 4: You follow whatever rules I feel like adding. Number 5: No staking Nick's behind to a erupting Volcano or tossing him to my least favorite God until _after_ you've heard everything and judged him. And that includes killing him." He gave a pointed look to both Ash and Styxx, the latter of which having no idea why it would be directed at him.

Sure, Nick had attempted to stab him when he was disguised as Ash, but Styxx could hardly blame the boy for that. Not when there were days he wanted to stab the asshole himself. (Major asshole-brother-issues died hard. Could you really blame him for that?)

Nick scowled at Savitar. "You just assumed I'm going to be found guilty."

"No, I just said they're not allowed to do A, B, or C, until they judged you."

Nick blinked. "Wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm so damn lucky you're on my side. Why don't you just drench me in gasoline and light a match? Save you some time?" Savitar shook his finger at him.

"You skipping steps, kid. Rule Number 6: You read the intro. This is your trial, so you start it. Then we'll watch your train wreck of a life. Once that shpeel is done, we'll hold a trial. And possibly burn you at the stake. Which brings us to Number 7: Myself, Mennie, Grom over there, Styxx, Bethany, Seth, and Thorn will act as judges. The rest will act as jury and witnesses. Since this is a sensitive topic, more judges were required."Savitar grumbled under his breath about 'persuasive egyptian bitches' and scowled as if this was not what he imagined doing when he woke up this morning. "That aside, it's showtime kid." With that, Savitar made his chair more comfy by adding cushions and reclined in them, leaving Nick standing with the entire group of Gods, ex-Dark-Hunters, Humans and Others staring at him.

Good God, it was Mrs. Richardson's class all over again.

Some, like Seth and Lydia, had turned back around fully so that they weren't craning their necks so much. Set smirked as if he was enjoying Nick's discomfort, and others were giving him a penetrating stare so reminiscent of his loathed English teacher he felt a tingle of serious discomfort crawl up his spine.

 _Come on, Nick. You're over thirty years old. This is nothing._

He ignored the stares and skimmed the intro Sav had tossed him before he started reading. It was only a couple of pages, so...

A ball of horror caught in his throat. This wasn't in his memories; this was from Ambrose himself- his words, not...well... _his._ Where had Savitar even gotten this?

Nick couldn't read it. If this was a trial, just him voicing these few paragraphs would taint the jury against him viciously- what the hell was Savitar thinking? He glared at the man in question.

Sav only yawned in response. "It's you who has to read it, kid. Get a move on so I can start this show."

Nick glanced back at the papers as anger and hopelessness consumed him...not to mention embarrassment.

But what did it matter? The only reason anyone was here in the first place was because they thought he was guilty of sending everyone here straight to hell, along with the rest of the world, by messing with the timeline.

If he read it, he looked guilty. If he didn't, he still looked guilty.

 _Damn it.  
_

He just couldn't win.

Nick focused his attention on the words, and tried to shut out the looks everyone gave him.

 **Free will.**

The first words rung out, and Nick let them hang in the air for a second before plowing on. He could do this.

 **Some have called it the greatest gift bestowed on humanity. It is our ability to control exactly what happens to us and exactly how it happens. We are the masters of our fate and no one can foist their will on us unless we allow it.**

Urian snickered at the corny line, but a raised brow from his mother made him stop. Seth merely curled his lip at the naive thinking; If that was how the world worked, he wouldn't have been stuck in hell for centuries on end.

 **Others say free will is a crap myth.**

Ash frowned at the tone in Nick's voice.

 **We have a preordained destiny and no matter what we do or how hard we fight it, life will happen to us exactly as it's meant to happen. We are only pawns to a higher power that our meager human brains can't even begin to understand or comprehend.**

Styxx felt a twinge of...disgust. And annoyance. He had fought his entire life against the gods and the fates. Even that simple statement was enough to incite a fire of defiance within him against the words. Of course, it made him wonder why Savitar was having this read out loud to them, with Nick of all people as the speaker.

Nick, for one, looked at the next line and grimaced. Seriously? _Do I have to say this next bit?_ Fine. He'd suffered greater indignities.

 **My best bud, Acheron, once explained it to me like this. Destiny is a freight train rolling along on a set course that only the conductor knows. When we get to the railroad crossing in our car, we can choose to stop and wait for the train to pass us by, or try to pull out in front of it and beat that bad boy across.**

 **That choice is our free will.**

"Yas! Cancel that date with destiny!" Tabitha called, fist bumping in the air. Her husband sighed and gently lowered her fist.

 **If we choose to rush ahead, the car we're in might stall on the tracks. We can then choose to try and start the car or wait for the train to plow into us. Or we can get out and run, and fight the destiny of the train slamming into us and killing us where we stand. If we choose to run, our foot could get caught in the tracks or we could slip and fall.**

 **We could even say to ourselves, "there's no way I'm dumb enough to fight the train" and hang back to safely wait. Then next thing we know, a truck rams into us from behind, throwing us straight into the train's path.**

"Pretty crappy choices, considering." Stated Urian, stealing a slice of pizza from his dad.

"Yea, just warm and peachy." Sin muttered. His twin Zakar turned to him. "So if we don't have a license, do we get jail out of free card and screw the Destiny crap?."

Styxx allowed his slice to be stolen by his son with only a mild scoff in protest before turning to his brother. "You have a rather negative outlook on things, huh?" Ash shrugged.

"It's a good analogy." Although, he was most surprised that 'best bud' and 'Acheron' were in the same sentence and Nick had read them both without choking. The man probably needed an applause for that feat alone.

Nick cleared his throat for their attention. "May I continue, or what…?" Sav waved him on. "'K then."

 **If it is our destiny to be hit by the train, we will be hit by the train.**

"Woow." Tory drawled out. "I'm so glad I got up this morning." She turned to her husband.

"You're just Merry Sue Sunshine, aren't you?" Ash rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, can't even remember where or when I said this."

 **The only thing we can change is how the train turns us into a hamburger.**

"Sounds about right." muttered Savitar.

 **I, personally, don't believe in this crap. I say** _ **I**_ **control my destiny and my life. No, nothing controls me. Ever.**

Nick couldn't help saying that line with finality; simply because it was true. Some things changed, but others stayed the same. Even if people like Urian and Set laughed at him in disbelief. Nick growled and spat out the next paragraph.

 **I am what I have become because of the interference and secrets of one creature.**

Ash felt that pit in his stomach reform. Yea, this was so _not_ going to be fun.

 **Had things been done differently, my life would have been a whole other enchilada. I would not be where I am today and I would have had a life worth living instead of the nightmare my life has become.**

Kyrian winced at the words and Nick's voice, and slipped his hand into Amanda's. It hurt to hear Nick in pain; as a parent, and as someone who took care of Nick when the cajun was a kid, it felt like someone was pushing splinters into his heart. He had _never,_ in any way, wished this kind of life on Nick.

 **But no, by keeping his deepest secrets, my best friend betrayed me and turned me into the darkness I have come to embrace.**

Nick kept his eyes focused on the words, on mouthing them and giving them sound. He tried not to let any emotion leak out. This wasn't him. These weren't his words. Not exactly. But did it really fucking matter?

 **Our fates and destinies were mashed together by a freak event that happened when I was a kid, and I curse the day I ever called Acheron Parthenopaeus my friend.**

Ash tried to keep himself from flinching, but it was hard. Somehow, this was slightly different than when Nick would insult him on the spur of the moment. Ash could then just write it off as Malachai-Demon-Nick being an asshole. But this...it was written like an open letter. No, it _was_ an open letter. Addressing anyone who cared to listen that Acheron Parthenopaeus was calmly, and rationally, hated. With no preamble or sugar-coated words.

He didn't even need to hear the next few lines to know who had written this in the first place. As it was, Tory wrapped her arm around his waist and held it, squeezing his side in reassurance. At his age, he really should be used to people hating his very existence. He thought he had been. But this...Ash had a feeling this would always sting.

 **I am Nick Gautier.**

 **And this is my life and how things should have been….**

Nick finished and crumpled the paper in his hand, shoving it into a pants pocket. That had been obnoxious and humiliating..."Any questions?" He asked.

Jo raised her hand. "Uhh, yeah. 'Should have been'? What do you mean, ' _Should have'_? 'Cause that kinda refers to things being different than normal, and if this is your life we're talking about that's...that's a little weird." Urian leaned back to address Cadegan's wife.

"Remember, he's on trial for playing with time. So you see, this here is what we folks like to call 'foreshadowing'. Obviously, shi-" Urian glanced at his mother, "-stuff get tossed up and out of hand."

Nick snorted. _You have no idea._

"All right, kiddies. Fasten your seat belts and hold on, 'cause we're all going for a crappy ride." Savitar stated, snapping his fingers. The lights dimmed in the room while the large movie-theater screen lit up.

And Nick's torturous hell down the memory lane with company began.

 **000**

 **Stupidly Long A/N To explain crap and give you all seating charts. Why? 'Cause I can. Although, I will probably do some editing if I find a spelling mistake or if I really just can't stand a particular line... Please Review! Seriously, posting this scared me. Why do posting stories and chapters terrify me? Please tell me I'm not alone with that feeling.  
**

 ***I'm making Savitar do this Movie-theater style for a few reasons.  
**

 **First is that even though I know Savitar, Ash, and a lot of the gods can just zap everyone with Nick's memories, since they're trying to judge Nick, I think it'll be easier story-wise and trial wise to process everything slowly. (We also wouldn't have a story if they did that. Or at least, we'd have a much shorter story. What can I say? This is Fan Fiction.)**

 **Second: Since Savitar's using his powers for this, and I think it'd be easier for him to light up and play memories like a movie on a screen instead of doing 360 surround-sound (Like what he did in DragonBane) for days on end. But that's just my take on his powers. Maybe he could, but this is Sav we're talking about. He's...lazy with purpose.**

 **Peoples present: Savitar, Menyara, Acheron, Styxx, Bethany, Urian, Tory, Kyrian, Amanda, Tabitha, Cadegan, Aeron, Chi, Simi, Seth, Set, Zakar, Katra, Sin, Tabitha, Val, Jo, Lydia, and DH Nick.**

 **All their kids are being babysat by Danger and Alexion in the next room. (Simi's helping them at the moment.)**

 **Who is sitting with whom:  
**

 **Screen**

 **Nearest to Screen:**

 **Ash, Tory, Styxx, Bethany, Menyara, Urian, Katra, Sin, Seth and Lydia, as she insisted on being there with her husband. Set is also there with Zakar, and no, Sav is NOT a happy camper about Set's presence.  
**

 **Tabitha and Amanda are sitting near the middle with, Kyrian, Val, and Chi  
**

 **Towards the back is where Thorn, Cadegan, and his wife Jo are sitting. They're the one's nearest to Nick and Savitar; Aeron is kinda sitting next to Nick but still near Cadegan. And no, Thorn is not happy with the Malachai and Cade being so close together in proximity.  
**

 **Everyone's really spread out, though.**

 **Alexion and Danger are in the next room babysitting the kids with Simi, so they can still hear things. Kids present in next room over are Ari, Bas, Theo, Mia, and Amanda's recently born infant (From what Mrs. Kenyon has stated, Amanda now has three kids) along with Marissa and NJ. Val and Tabitha's son Valerian are in there as well, with Cadegan's son. (Damn, Alexion and Danger are basically running a preschool. Also, I think Mrs. Kenyon may have mentioned Katra having another child, but I'm not sure. If so, just imagine he/she's in here as well.  
**

 **At this present time, those are the only beings present. Don't worry, others will join us. Maybe. :D  
**

 **Please review and point out spelling errors...And please don't hurt me for starting a new story when I have others to work on... -RS  
**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

 **This is by far the longest chapter I've written, and I have a feeling they're just going to get longer for this story. Why did I do this...it took forever to write this, but I chose to update this story first, since I knew it would take longer.**

 **So, since Nick and Co. are technically watching a 'Movie' just imagine the descriptions in the** _**book**_ **are the descriptions of what they're watching** _ **on screen**_ **. Kinda like a movie made from a book that didn't skimp on the details. Or whatever movie you play in your head when you read the book...Make any sense? I hope so. 'Cause I suck rocks at explaining this. -RS  
**

 **P.S To Y'all who are wondering why Set is present...Honestly? 'Cause he won't leave. No, really, he needs to be there. Dunno why, yet. (I actually thought someone would mention Zakar, since he really does have _nothing_ to do with this, but I don't think Set would be there without him. And Set needs to be there. Also, what else does he and Set do to pass the time? Play Parcheesi? Dominos? At the very least, they're both bored and decided to piss Savitar off for the time being, in conjunction with Set's other reasons for being there.) So yeah, I hope that's a good enough reason for his presence! And a really large 'Thank-You' to everyone who reviewed and read this story!  
**

 **P.S.S On that train of thought, if there is a character that you think isn't talking as much/not participating as much, there's a reason for it. I added everyone in there for a reason, and had to leave certain characters out that I had actually wanted present. Like Zarek and Dev. Could you see Zarek having a blast with this? I can. But again, characters will come and go depending on the chapters or whatnot. I have the general idea...but then again, this is my first time dong a read-their-own-story-fic-thing so if the pacing's off...oops.**

 **Also, since it's longer, there's bound to be a ton of spelling errors. I'll find as many as possible, but I can't promise I'll catch all of them. Dang it.**

 **For what it's worth, enjoy! And who's ready for _Invision_ to come out?! YES! **

**MRS. KENYON. OWNS. EVERYTHING. Duh.**

 **0000000000**

Well, Nick's torture was _about_ to begin, except the door from the children's room opened.

"Hey, Mama- wow, are you guys watching a movie? Can I join?" Marissa asked, oblivious to the tension in the room...or purposely ignoring it. Danger came up from behind and rested her hand on Marissa's shoulder, throwing Amanda an apologetic look.

"Sorry, Amanda, but she wanted to know when lunch was going to be."

"When we get half way through this first nightmare." Savitar stated. "Of course, that's just for the Judges and Jury. You kids can eat whenever you want. But you'll have to ask your parents about the movie deal."

Amanda leveled a look at her daughter before shaking her head. "No, sweetheart, I really don't think…"

Kyrian patted Amanda's shoulder and looked over at Nick. "It's your life, right kid? You think she'll be able to watch?"

Nick scratched the back of his head in thought. "I...really don't know. Can't answer that. My life isn't exactly G-rated. Hell, I don't even know where we're starting…"

"Age 14." Savitar growled. "Hurry up and decide. We're on a tight schedule."

"14?" Ash mouthed. "Exactly how long are we going to be here? He wasn't even a squire at that age."

Savitar ignored him and looked towards Amanda. "Nick's life ain't pretty, but he wasn't much older than Marissa is now. Your choice."

Marissa pleaded with her eyes. "Please, Mama?"

While Amanda and her daughter argued for the next couple of minutes (My bad, held a brief family discussion between parent and child) those present sent texts and calls to their family members that weren't present saying that they'd be booked for the rest of the day. The discussion ended with Kyrian's help, and Marissa flopped down between her parents on a bean bag.

"Now, without any more distractions-" Savitar waved his hands and the 'movie' started to play. "We begin."

Nick grimaced. _Yee-Flippin'-Yaw._

 **0000000000**

" **I am a socially awkward mandork."**

Disbelief shuddered throughout the hall at the self-deprecating statement.

Except Nick, who not only vaguely remembered what day it had been, but was absolutely horrified as he heard his _ridiculously_ high voice from when he was a young teen. This wasn't just going to be earth-shattering and disturbing for everyone watching, but highly embarrassing for him personally. More and more memories of his stupidity when he was a kid came to forefront of Nick's mind.

Every single time Stone had shoved him into a locker; the disgusted looks he was given by his high school faculty; when he said or did something that in retrospect was so...so...Nick wanted to slam his head into a wall. Why had he agreed to this, again? Oh, yeah. Nick looked over at Savitar. He didn't have a choice.

Already, he could see everyone's back and the angle of their jaws as they tried to keep from smiling at the unexpected sentence Nick had ground out, years upon years ago. How their sides quivered in an effort to keep from laughing at the criminal they were meant to be judging.

 _What can I say?_ Nick thought. _I'm just that damn amusing._

" **Nicholas Ambrosius Gautier! You watch your language!"**

Ash sucked in a breath at a voice he hadn't heard since the day she died. Tory looked between him and the screen in thought. Kyrian, Amanda, Tabitha...all the others who had known the woman and the way she brightened a room by walking into it held similar looks on their faces; stuck somewhere between happiness and bitter remembrance. Those who didn't know Cherise Gautier - like Bethany- looked around them in confusion. Why was the room suddenly morose?

 **Nick sighed at his mother's sharp tone as he stood in their tiny kitchen looking down at the bright or-ange Hawaiian shirt. The color and style were bad enough. The fact it was covered in l-a-r-g-e pink, gray, and white trout (Or were they salmon?) was even worse. "Mom, I can't wear this to school. It's…"-he paused to think real hard of a word that wouldn't get him grounded for life- "hideous. If anyone sees me in this, I'll be an outcast relegated to the loser corner of the cafeteria."**

Cue Ash, Kyrian, Amanda, Tabitha, Urian and Val turning around in tandem to stare at Nick in muted horror as if their entire lives had been a lie.

Nick Gautier, completely aware that Hawaiian T-shirts were ugly as _hell_ and as a result disliked them?

 _What. A. Fucking. Concept._

Nick growled at them and their loudly broadcasted thoughts as they realized his IQ wasn't nearly as low as they feared it to be.

"News flash: I fu-" -Nick glanced at Marissa- "-fricken' hated those T-shirts. Hence why I don't wear them anymore." Or more to the point, he only wore them for his mother, and since she wasn't there...see the logic?

Savitar scowled at them. "There's nothing wrong with Hawaiian shirts." The group eyed his purple button up that was scattered with white flowers and birds all over it.

"Oi. Don't pull that 'I won't say anything 'cause he can't hear me BS'. Your silent judgement is heard, loud and clear." Nick grunted. No matter what Savitar said, Hawaiian shirts were only made for one purpose: To piss people off. In Nick's case, Kyrian.

 **As always she scoffed at his protest. "Oh, shush. There's nothing wrong with that shirt.**

Tory blinked. No, there was _definitely_ something wrong with that shirt. It was even uglier than Savitar's. Then again, all she knew about the woman was from Acheron's stories of her, and he held her in high esteem. So her bad taste in clothes must just be a minor detail.

Sav gave them all a triumphant look. "See? She agrees with me." No one, even Urian who was rolling his eyes expertly, graced that statement with a comment.

 **Wanda told me at the Goodwill store that it came in from one of those big mansions down in the Garden District. That shirt belonged to a fine upstanding man and since that's what I'm raising you to be…"**

Tory scratched her head. Okay, if _that_ was the reason, she could kind of understand Cherise's reasoning. But really?

 **Nick ground his teeth. "I'd rather be a delinquent no one picks on."**

 **She let out a deep sound of aggravation as she paused while flipping bacon. "No one's going to pick on you, Nicky. The school has a strict no-bullying policy."**

Marissa scoffed. Kyrian looked over at his daughter in alarm at the tone of voice coupled with the given subject matter, but before he could jump to conclusions, she explained.

"Teachers always _say_ that, but they don't see everything. Even if they want to."

"Or they see it and don't care." Nick added without thinking. Why the heck was inputting his opinion?...Oh, yeah. Because he was actually part of the small handful of people in the room who had gone to school. In the US, at least. Tabitha and Amanda sighed in agreement.

"Yeah, you don't want to even know how many girls I had to deal with at St. Mary's. It was their way or the highway, and my 'Screw that' vibe didn't sit well with any of 'em."

Amanda snorted. "We talking about the detentions they gave you, or vice versa?"

 **Yeah, right. That wasn't worth the "contract" paper it was written on. Especially since the bullies were illiterate idiots who couldn't read it anyway.**

Low murmurings of 'Amen' and snorts were scattered throughout the room.

Illiterate idiots aside (He was surrounded by morons on a regular basis) another major concern Nick had about this whole movie deal:

He could hear the thoughts from his 14-year-old self loud and clear, even as his mother moved around the kitchen making breakfast.

And it wasn't _his_ powers making it possible. For whatever reason, Savitar was allowing his young teen's mental state to be heard by everyone. Was Savitar trying to make Nick die of embarrassment? He had been a healthy 14-year-old for heaven's sake! He couldn't even remember half of what he had _said_ as a teenager, let alone what he _thought._ Most of it was more than likely perverse given his age, and...Nick looked around the room at how many women were present...and married.

 _I'm dead._

What the hell had he done to Sav recently to deserve this...? Nick paled before shaking his head. Gautier's weren't scared of nothing and nobody...and that included beatings that he would most likely deserve by the end of this.

 **Jeez. Why wouldn't she listen to him? It wasn't like he wasn't the one going into the lion's den every day and having to traverse the brutality of high school landmines. Honestly, he was sick of it and there was nothing he could do.**

 **He was a massive loser dork and no one at school ever let him forget that. Not the teachers, the principal, and especially not the other students.**

The majority of the group blinked in surprise at the depressing statement; with Ambrose, like rest of their group, they could expect the brutal truth dripped in sarcasm as a standard dish. Not...straightforward honesty tinged with reluctant acceptance.

Styxx sympathized with the kid more than he wanted to, as memories from his own 'kind' schooling came to the forefront of his mind. He could only remember two teachers he remotely liked, and it had taken both of them a while to realize he wasn't a spoiled/brat prince.

Nick ignored the frowns thrown in his general direction; looking back on himself now, he seemed...really pathetic. And whiny. *****

 _ **Why can't I flash forward and bypass this whole high school nightmare?**_

Tory hummed in agreement. _That is the question._ Hence why her kids were going to get stellar grades, so she could skip them right over that entire section of unnecessary humiliation.

 **Because his mom wouldn't let him. Only hoodlums dropped out of school and she didn't work as hard as she did to raise up another piece of worthless scum- it was a harped-on litany permanently carved into his brain. It ranked right up there with:**

" _ **Be a good boy, Nicky. Graduate. Go to college. Get a good job. Marry a good girl. Have lots of grandbabies and never miss a holy day of obligation at church."**_ **His mom had already road-mapped his entire future with no diversions or pit stops allowed.**

 _And,_ Nick thought bitterly, _I couldn't even give her half of what she asked._ He managed to graduate high school. He went to college, but never finished his law degree. Being a Dark Hunter didn't really count as a 'Good Job' if he was using his Mother's expectation chart. Marriage and kids were off the table for eternity, and he _really_ didn't want to think about what his confession would be filled with when he finally bothered to swing by the Cathedral…

Yeah, his life had seriously skidded off the rails years ago and his Mom would have probably blown a gasket if she had known what his job description entailed…

Ash closed his eyes in pain at what Nick's life should have been.

 _Except..._ His eyes flew wide as realization struck, remembering the Open-letter. Was this what Nick had been referring to? ****** Ash looked at the screen again, and instead of allowing his emotions to cloud his judgement, started to analyze what actions were being taken, and what words were being said. Savitar wouldn't show them this unless it had any bearing on their future as a majority. Tory gave him inquisitive look, and he patted her hand in reassurance, not answering her question just yet. First, he needed to know what he was looking for. Could it be possible for this hypothetical life Cherise outlined to somehow become _reality_ for Nick?

Or was something else entirely going on? Either way...he needed to read the fine print; and no one knows the intricacies of those damn buggers better than Acheron Parthenopaeus. He could write a fucking book on the subject.

 **But at the end of the day, he loved his mom and appreciated everything she did for him.**

The woman in the room cooed. Nick shifted uncomfortably. He'd just have to get used to this. It was no secret he had loved his mother to bits.

 **Except for this whole "Do what I say, Nicky. I'm not listening to you because I know better" thing she said all the time.**

Marissa couldn't help a small giggle escape. Amanda arched her brow.

 **He wasn't stupid and he wasn't a troublemaker. She had no idea what he went through at school, and every time he tried to explain it, she refused to listen. It was so frustrating.**

Ash and Kyrian frowned. That was an odd statement, and the opposite of what they had seen of Cherise during those years; she had been nothing if not supportive of Nick. Maybe from his point of view she refused to listened? Kyrian gave Nick the benefit of the doubt; Nick had been young, and as Kyrian had been a less-than-exemplary son to his own parents. He really didn't have much ground to judge Nick for young immaturity.

 _ **Gah, can't I catch the swine flu or something?**_ **Just for the next four years until he was able to graduate and move on to a life that didn't include constant humiliation? After all, the swine flu had killed millions of people in 1918 and several more during outbreaks in the seventies and eighties was it too much to ask that another mutant strain of it incapacitate him for a few years?**

Tory 'Hmmed'. "Damn, I should be taking notes. You learn something new every day, Huh?" Ash sighed at his ever-studious wife.

...Of course Nick's ADD thoughts would entertain her.

 **Maybe a good bout of parvo…**

 _ **You're not a dog, Nick.**_

 **True, no dog would be caught dead wearing this shirt. Whizzing on it would be another matter…**

 **Sighing in useless angst, he looked down at the crap shirt he wanted desperately to burn. Okay, fine. He'd do what he always did whenever his mom made him look like a flaming moron.**

 **He'd own it.**

The room nodded in approval. It struck them as very...Nick. Even though this 'Nick' was radically different from what some people in the room remembered. They simply hadn't known him back then.

 _ **I don't want to own**_ **this** _ **. I look epically stupid.**_

 _ **Man up, Nick. You can take it. You've taken a lot worse.**_

Ash didn't care for the tone in his voice. He knew what kind of life Nick and Cherise had been forced to live; he could only hope the bad times were limited by the new jobs they got in the end.

 **Yeah, all right. Fine. Let them laugh. He couldn't stop that anyway. If it wasn't his shirt, they humiliate him over something else. His shoes. His haircut. And if all else failed, they'd insult his name. Nick the dick or dickless Nicholas. Didn't matter what he said or did, those who mocked would mock anything. Some people were just wired wrong and they couldn't live unless they were making other people suffer.**

 **His Aunt Menyara always said no one could make him feel inferior unless he allowed them to.**

 **Problem was, he allowed it a lot more than he wanted to.**

Seth gripped Lydia's waist and pulled her closer. It was...surreal. Nick looked like Adarian, regardless that they were two completely different people. But seeing someone who looked too damn similar to his false friend, voicing thoughts Seth had himself-one of the reasons he hadn't liked others knowing his name for centuries- was weird as _fuck_ and wasn't sure what to make of it. He had thought he had gotten used to Nick, but this...something was different about this. He shook his head and leaned into Lydia. She would center him; she always had.

 **His mom set a chipped blue plate on the side of the rusted out stove. "Sit down, baby, and eat something. I was reading in a magazine that someone left at the club that kids score much higher on tests and do a lot better in school whenever they have breakfast." She smiled and held the package of bacon up or him to see. "And look. It's not expired this time."**

Amanda swallowed a round of bile. 'This time' referred to there being times when the meat _was_ expired. And that made her ill; not at the thought of Nick and Cherise eating rotten food- although that was a concern- it was that people she loved and held great respect for were unable to eat or acquire anything better.

 **He laughed at something that really wasn't funny. One of the guys who came into his mom's club was a local grocer who would give them meat sometimes when it expired since all the guy did was throw it out anyway.**

Nick stiffened. Oh, yeah. Things were getting too personal, too quick. No one needed to know how bad off they had been. No one.

" **As long as we eat it quick, it won't make us sick."**

 **Another litany he hated.**

 **Picking up the crispy bacon, he glanced around the tiny condo they called home. It was one of the four that had been carved out of an old run-down house. Made up of three small rooms- the kitchen/living room, his mom's bedroom, and the bathroom- it wasn't much, but it was theirs and his mom was proud of it, so he tried to be proud too.**

 **Most days.**

 **He winced as he looked at his corner where his mom had strung up dark blue blankets to make a room for him on his last birthday. His clothes were kept in an old laundry basket on the floor, set next to his mattress that was covered with Star Wars sheets he'd had since he was nine-another present his mom had picked up at a yard sale.**

Nick wrinkled his nose and looked away from the screen. Yes, he hated that house. He hated the stained walls and the crappy floor. He hated that everyone was taking a real good look at where he used to live, and that the familiar prick of self-loathing and disappointment was stinging him. But what he hated the most was how he had taken his Mother's efforts and love for granted. Damn, he was stupid.

" **One day, Mom, I'm going to buy us a really nice house." With really nice stuff in it.**

 **She smiled, but her eyes said she didn't believe a word he spoke. "I know you will, baby. Now eat up and get to school. I don't want you dropping out like me." She paused as a hurt look flitted across her face. "You can see exactly what that gets you."**

It got him a wonderful mother who loved him up until the moment she died, a mother he never deserved in the first place.

 **Guilt cut through him. He was the reason his mom had dropped out of school. As soon as her parents had learned she was pregnant, they'd offered her one choice.**

 **Give up the baby or give up her nice home in Kenner, her education, and her family.**

Bethany sucked in a breath, along with other woman. Yes, Tabitha and Amanda had known that is what must have happened. But the idea was still something none were comfortable with, including the men. And having Nick explain the situation to them pragmatically in the voice of a child...it didn't sit well, like a weight had been set on your chest off-center and you couldn't shove off.

 **For reasons he still didn't understand she'd chosen him.**

 **It was something Nick never let himself forget. But one day he was going to get all that back for her. She deserved it, and for her, he'd wear this god-awful shirt.**

 **Even if it got him killed…**

 **And he'd smile through the pain of it until Stone and crew kicked his teeth in.**

"Wait a sec. Hold up." Urian called for a time out, turning to face Nick. "This the same Stone that attacked Sanctuary with his asshole father?"

"Yeeep." Nick stated, feeling annoyed and accenting the 'P' sound. Just the mention of the foul, dung-sniffing... "We went to school together."

"Same grade?"

"Yeah, the Universe hates my guts. Who knew?"

"...I could have told that, but _damn_. Gautier, you have the crappiest luck."

Tabitha snorted. "Yea, I almost forgot he was in your grade. Thank-God he wasn't in mine."

Amanda rubbed her temple. "Yes, but _I_ was. Unfortunately. Now hush."

 **Trying not to think about the butt-whipping to come, Nick ate his bacon in silence. Maybe Stone wouldn't be in school today. He could get malaria or the plague, or rabies or something.**

Kyrian tapped his fingers against his leg. Why couldn't he remember Nick having any problems with bullies during High School? Yes, there were various things that had happened in and around his school, but the fact Stone Blakemore had made Nick feel this...trepidation? He shook his head. Of course Nick wouldn't tell him. As long as Nick's life wasn't in danger, the Cajun would have never been pushed to. And this was before he met Kyrian; hopefully his presence had made things somewhat better.

Amanda felt her husband relax and gave him a comforting bump. Psychics. They know what's up.

 **Yeah, may the smarmy freak get a pox on his privates.**

 **That thought actually made him smile as he shoved the grainy powdered eggs into his mouth and swallowed them. He forced himself not to shiver at the taste. But it was all they could afford.  
**

Urian grimaced. _Could we...not?_ Urian was quite found of no longer needing to drink blood, but there were plenty of foods on the _never_ list. Escargot included. A quick look around and everyone, (Including Sin, who made sure his buffet was always well-stocked for certain Charontes) agreed unanimously.

 **He glanced at the clock on the wall and jerked.**

" **Gotta go. I'm going to be late."**

 **She grabbed him for a bear hug.**

 **Nick grimaced. "Stop sexually harassing me, Mom. I gotta go before I get another tardy."**

 **She popped him on the butt cheek before she released him. "Sexually harassing you. Boy, you have no idea."**

The room was deathly quiet.

 **She ruffled his hair as he bent over to pick up his backpack.**

 **Nick put both arms through the straps and hit the door running. He launched himself from the dilapidated porch and sprinted down the street, past broken-down cars and garbage cans to where the streetcar stopped.**

" **Please don't be gone…"**

 **Otherwise he'd be doomed to another "Nick? What are we going to do with you, you white-trash dirt?" Lecture from Mr. Peters. The old man hated his guts, and the fact that Nick was a scholarship kid at his snotty overprivileged school seriously ticked Peters off.**

Tory raised a brow. That was impressive; she hadn't known Nick was that intelligent. _Not that she thought he wasn't!_ But, she just- It hadn't been- Indirectly insulting someone was the last thing-

Ash glanced at his wife, confused. Why was she squirming?

 **He'd like nothing better than to kick him out so that Nick wouldn't "Corrupt" the kids from the good families.**

Lydia opened her mouth, aghast, before closing it. _Corrupt?_ If that's how they thought, what was left to corrupt in the first place?

 **Nick's lip curled as he tried not to think about the way those decent people looked at him like he was nothing. More than half their dads were regulars at the club where his mom worked, yet they were called decent while he and his mom were considered trash.**

 **The hypocrisy of that didn't sit well with him. But it was what it was. He couldn't change anyone's mind but his own.**

Kyrian gave a slight smile. Nick was always a good kid, even when he wasn't.

 **Nick put his head down and ran as he saw the streetcar stopped at his station.**

 **Oh man…**

 **Nick picked up speed and he broke out into a dead run. He hit the platform and lept for the streetcar.**

 **He'd caught it just in time.**

Sin tilted his head. "Dramatic much?"

Katra hit his stomach. "Being late is a big deal. Trust me, when Cassandra was in college...when you care about it, being late is the same as you letting evil gallu businessman into the casino. A colossal mistake."

Sin's nose scrunched up. "I did not _let them_ into the casino!"

 **Panting and sweating from the humid autumn New Orleans air, he shrugged his backpack off as he greeted the driver. "Morning, Mr. Clemmons."**

Nick's mouth twitched upward; he really did miss the old man. Even if never got his last name right...

 **The elderly African-American man smiled at him. He was one of Nick's favorite driver's. "Morning, Mr. Gautier." He always mispronounced Nick's last name. He said it "Go-chay" instead of the correct "Go-shay." The difference being "Go-chay" traditionally had an "h" in it after the "t" and, as Nick's mom so often said, they were to poor for any more letters. Not to mention, One of his mom's relatives, Fernando Upton Gautier, had founded the small town in Mississippi that shared his name and both were pronounced "Go-shay." "Your mom made you late again?"**

The room blinked. Not that they'd ever gotten his name wrong, but good to know for future reference. Ticked off Malachais didn't work for anyone. *******

" **You know it." Nick dug his money out of his pocket and quickly paid before taking a seat. Winded and sweating, he leaned back and let out a deep breath, grateful he'd made it in time.**

 **Unfortunately, he was still sweating when he reached school. The beauty of living in a city where even in October it could hit ninety by eight A.M. Man, he was getting tired of this late heat wave they'd been suffering.**

Jo nodded her head in solemn agreement; you just never won with the weather in New Orleans. Cadegan grimaced, remembering his wedding. It had been...sweltering. _Why_ had he allowed Jo to pick the date...? _Because I'd do anything for her._

Jo chuckled nervously as if she sensed bad memories equated with hot weather.

 _ **Suck it up, Nick. You're not late today. It's all good.**_

 _ **Yeah, let the mocking commence.**_

 **He smoothed his hair down, wiped the sweat off his brow, and draped his backpack over his left shoulder.**

 **Holding his head high in spite of the snickers and comments about his shirt and sweaty condition, he walked across the yard and through the doors like he owned them. It was the best he could do.**

" **Ew! Gross! He's dripping wet. Is he too poor to own a towel? Don't poor people ever bathe?"**

" **Looks like he went fishing in the Pontchartrain and came up with that hideous shirt instead of a real fish."**

" **That's 'cause he couldn't miss it. I'll bet it even glows in the dark."**

" **I bet there's a naked hobo somewhere wanting to know who stole his clothes while he was sleeping on a bench. Gah, how long has he owned those shoes, anyway? I think my dad wore a pair like that in the eighties."**

They...what?

The group was astounded by the comments. Not because they'd never heard worse before, directed at themselves or others, but because _Nick Gautier_ had been so openly disliked. Yes, he was a completely different man currently than he was before, but e _veryone_ had liked Nick before his DH transformation; who wouldn't?

Other than Stone. And apparently, the majority of the school he was forced to attend.

 **Nick turned a deaf ear to them and focused on the fact they were really stupid. None of them would be here if their parents weren't loaded. He was the scholarship kid. They probably couldn't have even spelled their names right on the exam he'd aced to get in.**

 **That was what mattered most. He'd much rather have brains than money.**

Tory silently clapped in agreement. All hail the smarties.

 **Though right now, a rocket launcher might be nice too. He just couldn't say that out loud without the faculty calling the cops on his having "inappropriate" thoughts.**

Styxx frowned, but it made sense, in a gross kind of way. These people evidently hadn't wanted him there, and if Nick gave them any reason to kick him out, they would. Simple. Not that he agreed, being to familiar with Nick's position in life.

0000

Bethany scanned a careful eye over everyone, keeping check of her own reactions. They were, as a majority, slowly losing focus. They were there to judge a man of his actions, right or wrong. She wasn't stupid; she had done this long enough to spot pity appeal from a mile away. Yes, the circumstances of Nick's youth were very unfortunate, but no one starts out evil...she curled her lip, remembering Styxx's uncle and Apollo, before putting that issue aside.

The crux of the matter was bypassing the whole pity phase and getting to where...this odd medley of events connects with the Malachai's crime. She was a seasoned judge, and would not let this matter slide. Although...she briefly considered Savitar. It was odd for the Chthonian to go out of his way to do anything like this. What was the _point.._.?

 **His bravado lasted until he reached his locker, where Stone and crew were loitering.**

 **Great, just great. Couldn't they pick someone else to stalk?**

Urian scoffed. "What, and make your life easy? Hell no."

"Please, this is _Stone_." Tabitha clarified. Sure, she hadn't known he was a Were-Hunter at the time, but the names of assholes tended to be passed around. In their chatty community? Like lighting.

Nick rolled his eyes.

 **Stone Blakemoor was the kind of creep who gave jocks a bad name. They weren't all like that and he knew it. Nick had several friends who were on the football team- starters, no less, not seat warmers like Stone.**

 **Still, when you thought of an arrogant jock-rock, Stone was aptly named. It was definitely a self-fulfilling moniker his parents had labeled him with. Guess his mom had known while he was in the womb that she was gong to birth a flaming moron.**

 **Stone snorted as Nick stopped beside his group to open his locker. "Hey, Gautier? I saw your mom naked last night- shaking her butt in my dad's face so that he'd but a dollar in her G-string. He got a good feel of her too. Said she's got a nice set of-"**

Valerius jolted back in disgust at the crude image, while a dark wave of rage flowed from Acheron with the Atlantean's barely leashed fury. Although He and Nick rarely agreed on anything anymore, insulting Cherise was a one-way ticket to Hades.

Kyrian wasn't doing much better checking his temper, with Amanda gripping his arm, glaring at the screen as if she could somehow throw Stone against the lockers with her telekinesis from the future.

Tabitha didn't hesitate in throwing a shuriken at Stone's face, which was promptly knocked aside by a flick of Savitar's hand before it could cut the screen.

They didn't have to worry.

 **Before he could think better of it, Nick swiped him upside the head with his backpack as hard as he could.**

 **And then it was on like Donkey Kong.**

" **Fight!" Someone shouted while Nick wrapped Stone in a headlock and pounded him.**

Tabitha stood up cheering. "YEEAAHH! Knock'em dead Cajun!"

Val attempted to drag her back down to her seat.

"Sweetheart- Love! _You're blocking the screen_!"

Nick covered his mouth, torn between smiling or keeping a straight face; watching the screen or watching Tabitha disregard her husband, completely forgetting Nick was standing right behind them in real-time.

It was a touch choice; at least someone, finally, appreciated him going ape shit on Stone.

Lord knows no one else ever did.

 **A crowd gathered round, chanting, "Fight, fight, fight."**

 **Somehow Stone escaped his hold and hit him so hard in the sternum it took the breath from him. Dang, he was a lot stronger than he looked. He hit like a jackhammer.**

Styxx sucked in a breath as he realized Nick had just taken a solid punch from a nearly full-grown Were-Hunter...as a _kid._ If he had never been impressed by the boy before, he was now. A few hundred 'Nicks' in his Stygian Omada, and Atlantis would have fallen _before_ they were recalled.

 _Damn, son. Did no one teach you how to block?_

 **Furious, Nick started for him, only to find one of the teachers suddenly between them.**

 **Ms. Pantall.**

Tabitha booed. "Ah, take a hike, you old hag!"

 **The sight of her petite form calmed him instantly. He wasn't about to hit an innocent person, especially not a woman.**

Bethany raised a brow. That was a complete 180 from his previous temperament.

Tory nodded in understanding; if Nick had been this adamant as a child, it would explain a majority of his actions (Including his choice to stab Satara instead of attacking Tory) that were incongruent with his species...if, of course, his past morality still held any sway over him.

 **She narrowed her eyes at him and pointed down the hall. "To the office, Gautier. Now!"**

Nick felt that familiar sense of dread at Ms. Pantall's words, for an entirely different reason. Graduated High School years ago, but the woman was still sending his ass to be kicked. He tensed his muscles, trying to anticipate what the next few minutes would bring.

 **Cursing under his breath, Nick picked his backpack up from the tiled beige floor and glared at Stone, who at least had a busted lip.**

 **So much for not getting into trouble.**

 **But what was he supposed to do? Let the weasel scum insult his mom?**

"How about...NO? And-"Amanda had her hand clamped around Tabitha's mouth before she could finish.

 **Disgusted, he entered the office and sat in the corner chair outside the principal's door. Why wasn't there an undo button for life?**

Ha.

If Nick wasn't feeling so tense, he might have laughed at the irony of that statement.

" **Excuse me?"**

 **Nick looked up at the softest, sweetest voice he'd ever heard. His stomach hit the ground.**

Styxx and Urian jolted at the voice, which sounded different, yet incredibly familiar.

Nick paled. _I am so dead._

 **Dressed all in pink, she was gorgeous, with silky brown hair and green eyes that practically glowed.**

Set was across the room in an instant, grabbing Nick by the neck and throwing him against the nearest wall available, which happened to be right behind the Cajun.

 _Shit._

Nick had been keeping an eye on Styxx and Urian; he had momentarily spaced keeping an eye on Set, who had been oddly silent. He should have anticipated this, but whenever he looked at Kody, he saw _her_...not the fact her facial features strongly resembled her _mother's_.

Crap.

"Set, let him go and sit your ass down." Savitar growled, standing up from his throne. "What part of Rule #5 did you not understand?" Set's eyes flashed gold, tightening his grip on Nick's neck as the man tried to pry his fingers off.

"Why. Is this _brat-"_ Set shook him roughly, "With _my daughter_?" _And not my Son-in Law?!_

Savitar's eyes flashed red. "I _said_ , put. Him. Down. If you'd take a second look instead of manhandling the accused, you'd see that's _not_ Bathymaas." They glared at each other and Nick made attempts to peel him off, before Set finally relented and took another look at the image on screen, where Savitar had paused it.

Nick rubbed at his neck, glaring at the man who flashed back to his place near Zakar and Sin, without apologizing.

 _And people wonder why I seriously loath this family._

Then again, it had been his own fault. Next time, he'd pay closer attention, and do more than prepare for an attack...like move, for one.

00000

Bethany froze in shock, staring up at the woman on screen. It did look like her- remarkably so, at first glance. But the more she looked, she realized there were astute differences. This woman's hair was brown and her eyes a warm green, while Bethany's hair was black and her eyes gold. And the girl was much shorter than her. ********

"I...I had no idea..." Ash started, looking between his brother, Bethany, and the screen, before shifting to look around at Nick, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. The women looked similar enough to favor each other, but different enough that it could have been an honest mistake. Nick merely gave him a blank stare, not willing to divulge any information. Yes, he had known that Kody had been Nick's girl during High School, but that was...

No...

 _Casey_ had been his girlfriend.

What the hell?

Styxx got his attention, motioning to the screen. "Did you know about this?" _Gods damn it._ Acheron cursed; he was not losing his brother's respect over this...too bad he'd have to tell the truth. Lying wouldn't get him anywhere. Styxx narrowed his eyes, hearing his thoughts. Ash figured he'd better answer quickly.

"Honestly? I had no idea Bethany and Nick's old Girlfriend looked that similar. It wasn't something I paid attention to. He dated a lot back then."

Or at least...Ash thought he had. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure. Styxx frowned again, clearly uncomfortable with someone dating a woman who looked nearly exactly like his wife-

A thought struck him as he looked between Tory and Bethany. "How do you do it? Ash and I-" Ash caught on, as if the thought had never occurred to him. (Which it had, he had just forgotten until it was brought up again.)

"-Are completely different." Tory waved her hand, cutting Styxx off. "Trust me, you and my husband might look exactly alike, but you are very different people, and it was stupidly easy to tell the difference after I kissed...you." Tory paused, realizing in the ensuing chaos of their lives no had bothered to inform Acheron about that. "Ah, damn."

Savitar groaned and put his face in his hands. They did not have time for this bull shit.

Ash looked between Styxx (Who was panicking) and Tory, (Who was joining said twin in panic) and Bethany, (Who raised a brow with carefully concealed amusement and irritation).

"You _kissed_ my _wife_?" Ash stared at them, stunned. They yelled over each other, trying to explain themselves.

"I didn't kiss her back and it was an accident!"

"Case of Mistaken identity!"

"I swear, I did _not_ know she was going to do that!"

"I thought he was you!"

"It was when I went to go save her from Satara and Styker!"

Urian scratched his head. "Huh...oh, wait, I do remember this happening. Weird."

Ash turned to Urian. "You knew?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think it was before...nah, maybe after Nick tried to stab you...or, well, Dad..."

Bethany shook her head. "I think we've gotten the gist. Accidents happen, especially when you marry twins. Had Styxx not been disguised as Acheron, that scenario probably wouldn't have happened in the first place. Boys! Make up."

Styxx shook hands with his brother, still embarrassed over the whole ordeal. He had honestly forgotten the event had happened; it had been years ago, and was a small misunderstanding that lasted no longer then two seconds.

Tory looked at Bethany concerned. "You're not mad?"

Bethany shrugged, before giving Tory a chaste kiss to the side of her mouth. "Nah. Justice prevails."

The twins gave her unamused glares.

"That is _not_ how this works." Ash stated.

"Ditto" Styxx agreed.

Bethany blinked at Styxx. " _You_ kissed her. Share."

"I did _not_!" He clarified. Again.

Ash growled and pulled Soteria towards him. "How about...I don't share my wife with _anyone?!"_

 _"Ack! Choking!"_

Nick couldn't believe this. His luck was never this good; not only had they completely forgotten about him, they had somehow accepted the existence of a Bethany-look-alike without drilling his head into the ground for information.

Of course, with the way Set and Seth were both eyeing him, it was doubtful the topic would be left alone. _Damn._ Well, he could hope.

While Lydia and Jo laughed hysterically at the going-on's, Tabitha was eyeing the squabbling gods in thought, stroking her chin with a crazed gleam. "You know, that sharing idea could be very-"

Amanda smacked the back of her head with the force of a thousand suns. _**"NO.**_ Keep you wild fantasies to yourself!"

"Oh, come on, not like it would ever happen-"

Kyrian and Val looked at each other in horror at the insinuation before mutually agreeing on shifting away from their wives. It didn't matter what Tabitha had thought or what Amanda heard; all they needed to know was that it was bad and they should abdicate. Marissa giggled, not understanding.

Chi simply sidestepped the entire ordeal and pretended she didn't know anyone in the group.

Katra wasn't too surprised when Urian flashed next to her instead of his staying in his spot, located slightly behind his mother and next to Menyara.

"Awkward much?"

"Just shut up give me some eye bleach. And a MIB memory stick." He then glanced at Sin and Zakar. "Nevermind." He flashed back.

"Was it you or me?" Sin asked.

Zakar shrugged. "Dunno. I'm not married, so I'm pretty sure it was you."

"Children!" Menyara called, garnering everyone's attention. "Before Savitar loses his composure, can we get back on track?" The group (Even those who did nothing wrong) slowly turned around to look at Savitar, who was slouched over his throne, elbows on his knees and chin in his hands, giving them all a heavy glare.

How had they missed the ancient Chthonian about to lose his shit?

Nick took a large step away from Savitar, leaving the rest of the group to his wrath.

"New rule. Keep the talking to a minimum, or you lose your tongue. Now where were we? Ah, yes: Romeo meeting his Juliet before everyone starts dying." Nick scowled at him.

"Not _everyone_ dies!"

The group gave him concerned glances, except Tabitha, Kyrian and Acheron, who could guess from the timeline of Nick's age what was going on. Ash felt his head throb. He did know what was going on...Right? The zombies...no, Nick hadn't met Kyrian until he was 16, and...Ash growled in frustration.

Everyone turned back to the screen, where Savitar unpaused the memory.

 _ **Oh. My. God.**_

 **Nick wanted to speak but all he could do was try not to drool on her.**

Styxx nodded. "Typical reaction."

Bethany gave him an amused glance. "Really? I don't remember it that way."

"Because you couldn't see me trying not to drool."

 **She held her hand out to him. "I'm Nekoda Kennedy, but most people call me Kody. I'm new to the school and kind of nervous. They told me to wait here, then there was a fight and they haven't come back and...I'm sorry, I babble when I'm nervous."**

" **Nick. Nick Gautier." He cringed as he realized how stupid he sounded and how behind he was on her conversation.**

Urian snorted. "Smooth, Gautier. Really. I thought you had better pick-up lines than this?"

Nick growled at him.

"Bite me, Daimon." Urian glared at him.

"No thanks, demon. Asshole doesn't taste good."

Nick smirked. "How you figure?"

Menyara glared at them, and they opted to leave it alone. For now.

 **She laughed like an angel. A beautiful, perfect…**

 _ **I am so in love with you…**_

 _ **Get a grip, Nick. get a grip…**_

"Wow. Love at first sight? That's kinda sweet!" muttered Jo, smiling wide. Cadegan blushed, as he realized it was much the same for him...and nearly every guy in the room, whether or not they knew it at the time.

" **So, have you been going here long?" Kody asked.**

 **Work, tongue. Work. He finally choked an answer out. "Three years."**

" **You like it?"**

 **Nick's gaze went to Stone and the others heading into the office. "Not today, I don't."**

 _A rather accurate statement._ Kyrian eyed the Weres as they approached the two teens.

 **She opened her mouth to speak, but Stone and crew surrounded her.**

" **Hey, baby." Stone flashed her a cheesy grin. "You new meat?"**

Styxx raised his hackles on instinct, and Bethany scrunched her nose. Even if it was weird having another man -boy- eyeing someone who looked incredibly like her, she chose to dub this new person as her long lost twin.

 _Let's hope this Ms. Kennedy has a backbone._

 **Kody grimaced and sidestepped them. "Get away from me, you animals. You smell." She raked a repugnant stare over Stone's body and curled her lip. "Aren't you a little old for your mom to be picking out your clothes for you? Really? Shopping at the Children's Place at your age? I'm sure there's some third grader dying to know who bought the last navy I-sore shirt."**

"Oooo." Aeron called out; Kody could be one fiesty lass when she wanted to. As if just noticing his presence, the others eyed him. Why on Earth was a Celtic War God on Savitar's island...?

Nick glared at him. _Quiet, Moron!_

Aeron rolled his eyes. _Aye, Aye. Captain._

 **Nick bit back a laugh. Yeah, he really, really, liked her.**

 **She went to stand by Nick and put her back against the wall so that she could keep an eye on Stone. "Sorry we got interrupted."**

Set inclined his head. Good woman; the girl got spunk. And she looked like his daughter, so that automatically gave her brownie points. Although...Set eyed the Malachai in suspicion. The situation bugged him. He would use his powers to scry for her at a later time; the Chthonian would be a hassle otherwise. Sav could be rather... _unreasonable_ when it came to gods using power on his island.

 **Stone made a sound like he was about to vomit.**

" **Why are talking to the King Loser Dork? You want to talk about ugly? Look at what he's wearing."**

 **Nick cringed as Kody examined the sleeve of his shirt.**

" **I like a man who takes fashion chances. It's the mark of someone who lives by his own code. A rebel." She cast a biting stare at Stone. "A real lone wolf is a lot sexier than a pack animal who follows orders and can't have an opinion unless someone else gives it to him."**

Ash snorted at the description. Lone wolf basically summed up the Malachai's existence.

Zakar sucked in a breath. "I like her." He felt a glare on his back, turning around only to find Nick glance away from him. Huh. Wasn't this guy hooked up with Artemis? Not that he cared about the bitch. Still...the boy should tread carefully.

Sin shrugged at his comment. "Maybe 'cause there isn't a guy here who plays nice with the other kids?."

Styxx frowned back at them, almost pouting. "I _always_ play nice. It's everyone else who breaks the rules."

" **Oooo," Stone's friends said in unison as she got the better of him.**

" **Shut up!" Stone shoved at them. "No one asked you for your opinions."**

" **Nekoda?" The secretary called. "We need to finish with your schedule."**

 **Kody gave Nick a last smile. "I'm in ninth grade."**

" **Me too."**

 **Her smile widened. "Hope we have some classes together. Nice meeting you, Nick." She made sure to step on Stone's foot as she walked past him.**

"Damn, Nick! I knew there was I reason I liked you girlfriend!" called Tabitha, keeping her eyes on screen.

Ash frowned as he realized there was quite a few people who had known Kody in the room. And yet...no one had realized how Nekoda resembled Bethany? And futhermore...Ash knew Nick's girlfriend had been an Arel...

An Arel...dating a Malachai?

Something was _seriously_ wrong here.

Nick shouldn't have been surprised that someone had directly addressed him, and yet he was. Most of the attention directed towards him had been suspicion, or comments made to hackle him, not meant to include him on the conversation.

This is the first time he had been included in the 'group'. Figures it would be Tabitha, who wouldn't care that he was being tried for a crime.

He chose not to hold his breath, though; Pessimism was his Muse.

"You mean, other than the fact she could kick your ass?" Nick responded.

Tabitha gasped and narrowed her eyes, turning to face him. "Them's fighting words, Gautier."

Val watched them with amusement. He was still annoyed with what the Cajun had done to make Valerius' life... _difficult_ during his stay in New Orleans- but after everything the boy had lost, he didn't hold as great of a distaste towards him. And watching Nick debate with his wife was enjoyable. _I suppose-_ He cut himself off, before looking between the two, as a thought struck him.

Tabitha gave Nick a break and focused on her husband, sensing his influx of emotions. Confusion. Suspicion. But the question of whether she and Nick had dated previously wasn't the one he asked.

"How could you have known Nick's girlfriend?"

Tabitha looked at him, not seeing how this connected with Val's growing sense of worry.

"I met her? Briefly, over the years, but enough to know she was Nick's girlfriend. Heard plenty about her from Nick as well."

 _Indeed._ Valerius had worried that was the case.

 **Stone yelped and mumbled an insult for her under his breath. Then he and his friends sat down in the chairs opposite Nick's.**

 **Ms. Pantall walked past them to go talk to Mr. Peters.**

 _ **They're going to cream me over this…**_

Lydia frowned and tilted her head, as if trying to understand. She directed her question to Nick.

"Why?"

He shrugged, not wanting to answer. If she hadn't caught on yet, she would. "Why not?"

 **As soon as she was gone, Stone tossed a wadded-up piece of paper at him. "Where did you get that shirt, Gautier? Goodwill or did you find it in a Dumpster? Nah, I bet you rolled a hobo for it. I know you people couldn't afford even something that tacky."**

"'You people'? _'You people'_? _Really?"_ Tory wasn't entirely sure why she was stuck on that, even though the phrase 'rolled a hobo' and the idea there was shame in needing to buy from Goodwill flashed through her mind in a fury.

 **Nick refused to rise to the bait this time. Besides, he could handle insults directed at him. It was the ones against his mom that elevated him to fighting mad.**

 _Well, that's the understatement of the year,_ thought Ash.

 **And this was why most private schools had uniforms. But Stone didn't want to wear one and since his father all but owned the school…**

Styxx groaned, while Kyrian and Valerius contemplated the fact their resident Arcadian Lykos pack leader used to have that much pull in a school that was technically a training ground for their squires.

Ash made a note to validate the information on his severely long to-do list that never ended.

 **Nick got to be mocked for the clothes his mom thought were respectable.** _ **Why don't you just listen to me, Mom? Just once…**_

" **What? No smart Comeback?"**

 **Nick flipped him off….At the same exact moment Peters came out and saw him.**

 _ **Lady Luck is definitely on vacation today.**_

Thorn laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like the bastard."

Cadegan gave him an amused snort before turning to look at Nick.

"...You do realize Dame Fortune is a man?"

"If I didn't before, I do now. Thanks. I'll send him the bill for all the crap he let me deal with."

" **Gautier," Peters growled. "Get in here. Now!"**

 **With a heavy sigh, Nick got up and went inside the office he knew as well as his own home. Peters stayed outside, no doubt talking to Stone while he was forced to wait. He took the chair to the right and sat there, staring at the pictures of Peter's wife and kids. They had a nice house with a yard, and in one photo his daughters played with a white puppy.**

 **Nick stared at them. What would it be like to live that way?**

Some people-Amanda and Tabitha- shifted awkwardly at that question, having owned the gist of what Nick desired in their own childhood. But the whispered jokes and quiet ribbing went away as the question was poised and heard by those who knew exactly where Nick was coming from.

It was a question they'd asked themselves countless times, and hearing it from the mouth a 14-year-old hit them in a place they weren't prepared for. Sin, Zakar, Ash. Cadegan. Seth. Styxx and Val may have had the wealth, but their lives had been the complete opposite of 'Happy Childhood 101'.

It wasn't something you got over.

 **He'd always wanted a dog, but since they could barely afford to feed themselves, a pooch was out of the question. Not to mention their landlord would die if they had one in their rented condo even though there wasn't much more damage a dog could do to the run-down shack.**

 **After a few minutes, Peters came in and went to his desk. Without a word, he picked up the phone.**

"Oooh no." muttered Jo. She knew this drill; Jo's cousins (Namely Tabitha and Karma...) had caused enough trouble at school the entire Deveraux Clan was well-versed in school-containment-protocol.

 **Nick panicked. "What are you doing?"**

" **I'm calling your mother."**

"Tch! Of course that would happen." Tabitha muttered. Val made a note to look through his wife's school records. For curiosity's sake.

 **Terror ripped through him. "Please, Mr. Peters, don't do that. She had to work a double shift last night and tonight too. She's only going to get about four hours of sleep today and I don't want to worry her about nothing." Not to mention she'd beat his butt royally for this.**

 **He dialed the number anyway.**

"Rude!" Tory exclaimed.

 **Nick ground his teeth as anger and fear whipped through his entire being.**

Urian snickered. "Whiiipped."

Nick snorted. "Said by someone who's never seen my mother in chihuahua mode."

" **Miss Gautier?" Could there be any more loathing in his tone? And did he always have to stress the fact that his mom had never married? That always embarrassed her to death. "I wanted to let you know that Nick is being suspended from school for the rest of the week."**

 **His stomach hit the floor. His mom was going to kill him when he got home. Why couldn't Peters just shoot him and put him out of his misery?**

Ash flinched involuntarily.

 **Peters glared at him mercilessly at him. "No, he was fighting again, and I'm sick of his thinking he can come in here and attack decent people anytime he feels like it for no apparent reason. He has to learn to control his temper. Honestly, I'm tempted to call the police. In my opinion, he should be sent to public school where they can handle troubled kids like him. I've said it before and I'll say it again. He doesn't belong here."**

It broke Tory's heart hear a licensed member of a school faculty be this degrading and cruel. To say all that, in front of a child, without even attempting to figure out what had caused the fight? (Teenager, but still.) As a teacher herself, she simply couldn't condone this- would never condone this kind of speech from _anyone._ "Someone should have reported his ass!" she hissed, temper flaring.

"Doesn't matter." replied Nick, from the back of the room. "Trust me, he gets his due. And it's not like you can have someone arrested or fired for stating the truth." Tory jerked at his statement. She wanted to argue, but Ash shook his head slightly, asking her to drop the subject for now.

 **Nick died a little with every word.** _ **Kids like him…**_

 **He zoned out so that he wouldn't have to hear the rest of Peter's triade about how worthless he was.**

Unfortunately, nobody else in the room was spared. They could hear Peter's voice, and it got to the point where Set ordered Savitar to turn down the volume; he had caught his son's face hardening and sensed his daughter's rage as Styxx's body became rigid.

 **He already knew the truth in his heart. The last thing he needed was someone else voicing it.**

 **After a few minutes, Peter hung up the phone.**

Marissa pressed her lips together before whispering a question to her father. "I don't have any teachers like that at my school, right?" Kyrian's eyes blazed, but it was Amanda who responded. "If there are, sweetheart, we won't let them treat you like that. I'd rather transfer you to a new school." Marissa breathed a sigh of relief. Middle School was bad enough without wondering how High School would dole itself out.

 **Nick gave him a sullen stare. "I didn't start it."**

 **Peters curled his lip. "That's not what the others said. Who am I supposed to believe Gautier? A hoodlum like you or four honor students?"**

"I _was_ an honor student!" Nick hissed under his breath. What part of 'Scholarship' had that man never understood?...Although if Peter was referring to his fight record...

Guilty as charged.

 **He was supposed to believe the one telling the truth, which happened to be the hoodlum. "He insulted my mother."**

" **That's no excuse for violence."**

"..."

A beat of something inexplicable went through the hall; no one would have been able to put a finger on what exactly they felt at that moment- only that they knew Nick Gautier, 14 year old extraordinaire, was about to _lose his marbles_.

 **That went down his spine like a shredder. The sanctimonious pig- Nick couldn't let that go unanswered. "Really? Well, you know, Mr. Peters, I saw your mom naked last night and for an old broad, she has really nice-"**

" **How dare you!" he shouted, coming to his feet to grab Nick up by his shirt. "You foul-mouthed little-"**

" **I thought you said insulting your mom was no excuse for violence."**

 _Bingo._

That was the irritatingly stubborn Cajun they all knew and loved. They had almost thought he'd been replaced, but nope. Still there. Ash couldn't even find it in himself to mentally scold Nick's younger self for his crudeness. If anything, Ash would have helped and blown that situation nuclear.

 **Peters trembled as rage mottled his skin. His grip tightened and a vein throbbed in his temple. "My mother isn't a bourbon Street Stripper. She's a good, God-fearing woman."**

"Wait-a stripper?" Murmured Jo, confused. She'd heard about this woman before, from her cousins and at Sanctuary. Jo knew it didn't matter, but it was something she hadn't known- Thorn grabbed her forearm, jolting her out of her thoughts.

" _Do Not_ say that again." He whispered, looking over her shoulder intently. She and Cadegan (Who was about to smack Thorn for man-handling his wife) looked behind them. Nick bared his teeth and looked away. Thorn grimaced.

"Again, don't even insinuate Cherise was anything if not perfect. It won't end well for you."

Cadegen looked behind at the demon, curiosity peaked. "I thought Malachais hated their mothers." Nick barked out a laugh, overhearing him.

Thorn replied to his answer. "Not this one."

 **He shoved Nick away from him. "Get your things and get out."**

 **God-fearing, huh? Strange how Nick and his mom went to mass every Sunday and at least twice during the week and the only time he ever saw Peters or his mom there was on holidays.**

 **Yeah…**

 **Hypocrite to the core. He despised people like Peters.**

 **Nick scooped his backpack up from the floor and left. There was a security guard waiting outside the office to escort him to his locker.**

 **Just like a criminal.**

 **Might as well get used to it. Some things ran in the blood.** _ **At least he's not handcuffing me.**_

 **Yet.**

Seth furrowed his brow. Had Nick just referred to Adarian? Would that bastard even show up?

 **Hanging his head low, he tried not to look at anyone as the other students sniggered and whispered about him.**

" **That's what happens when you come from trash."**

" **I hope they don't let him back in."**

" **Serves him right."**

This was horrid. Not simply because a child was being treated like dirt and a criminal, but because he was used to it. Used to being labeled and treated as less than what he was.

Amanda could barely stomach watching this, even though Nick had explained bits and pieces of his life to her before. Knowing the information and seeing what really happened, without Nick to joke about it and soften the blow, was just painful. She could feel her husband's rage beside her, reacting with his parental instincts. Amanda knew she'd have to calm him down for the majority of this trial; the only reason they were present to partake in this event anyway was because Savitar had personally asked them. Kyrian would never throw Nick under the bus, for any reason, and had balked upon being there until he had realized that by being _absent,_ Nick wouldn't have anyone to defend him.

Her other concern was Marissa. She had no clue Nick had gone through this, and Amanda was toying with the idea of sending her daughter from the room. She didn't want Marissa to start fearing High School, when Kyrian and herself would make sure nothing like this ever happened; not after Amanda's own _fantastic_ High School experience. Not to mention Marissa's overly protective God-Father and Aunt Simi...

 **Nick ground his teeth in anger as he neared his locker and reached for the combination lock.**

 **Brynna Addams was pulling her books out, two doors down. Tall with dark brown hair, she was very pretty and one of the few people who hung with Stone and crew that Nick could stand.**

Kyrian breathed a sigh of relief. At least the boy hadn't been completely alone. Brynna was a nice girl, and he was happy to know she had always been such.

 **She paused to look at them with a frown that only deepened when she saw the guard with him. "What's up, Nick?"**

" **Got suspended." He paused before he swallowed his pride. Again. "Could I ask a favor?"**

Anyone who knew Nick- Ash and Kyrian especially- knew how hard asking a favor must have been for the boy.

 **She didn't hesitate. "Sure."**

" **Could you get my assignments so that I don't fall behind?"**

Tory couldn't help the glimmer of respect she felt. After being treated like that, to still care about being studious...she could admire that in a person. After the day he'd had, she wouldn't blame him for not caring about homework.

" **Absolutely. You want me to e-mail them to you?"**

 ** _And I stupidly thought I couldn't feel any worse._ "Don't have a computer at home."**

 **Her cheeks darkened. "Sorry. Um, where do you need me to take them?"**

 **Nick was grateful she was decent-unlike the rest of the jerks she ran with. "I'll came by your house after school and get it."**

 **She wrote down her address while he pulled all of his books out. "I'll be home about four." "Thanks, Brynna. I really appreciate it." He tucked the paper in his back pocket, then allowed the security guard to escort him off campus.**

"They _escorted_ you off campus?" Tabitha clarified, as if not believing what she was seeing. Even she'd never gotten that kind of treatment, and Lord knows after the things she did, she had probably earned one.

Nick simply avoided meeting her eyes and shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "Yeah. It happens."

Ash and Kyrian glanced at each other. They had known how the school was supposed to function, and actions like that didn't 'just happen' out of thin air, even for students who were causing a ruckus.

 **Heartsick over having to face his mother, he made his way back home to their side of the ghetto and dreaded every step that took him closer to his door.**

 **Inside their crappy house, his mother was waiting on him with a stern frown on her face. Dressed in a threadbare pink robe, she looked about as tired and ticked off as he'd ever seen her.**

 **He dropped his backpack to the floor. "You should be asleep, Mom."**

 **Her eyes cut him to the quick and made him feel even lower than Peters had. "How can I sleep when my boy's been thrown out of school for fighting? You of all people know how hard it is for me to keep you there. How much money it takes. What I have to do to pay for your books and lunches. Why would you be so stupid as to throw this chance away? What were you thinking?"**

"That's Mom's were more important." Stated Marissa, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was, if you had a Mom that loved you to bits. She knew where Nick was at.

Amanda pressed her lips together, conflicted.

 **Nick didn't say anything because the truth would kill her and he didn't want her to feel as bad as he did when there was nothing she could do about it.**

"Oh, Nicky." breathed Menyara. Of course he'd chose to stay silent. There was nothing Nick had hated more than seeing Cherise in pain. Bethany rubbed her arm, in an attempt at comfort. It was odd to think that her Aunt had helped to basically raise the Malachai, even with the obvious love she bore the Cajun.

 _ **I'm the man of the family.**_ **It was his job to protect her. It was all he knew.**

And he had failed. That thought spun around Ash's head, like a wasp that took sadistic pleasure in stinging him over and over again.

 _ **Take care of your mom, boy, or you'll answer to me. You lip off to her and I'll cut out your tongue. You make her cry and I'll kill you myself.**_

Breaths were sucked in as everyone realized they were hearing Adarian Malachai's voice. They should have known that he would be present- he was Nick's father, of course he would be- but it was still a shock. More than that, was what he said.

Did they seriously just hear Adarian -The strongest and most long-lived Malachai to date- threaten Nick over the safety of his _Mother_?

The _fuck?_ The group of immortals shared glances of absolute stupefaction.

Nick examined his fingernails, mulling over his father's words. If the man had still been alive...Nick would have been skewered to the wall.

Seth couldn't wrap his mind around the words. The Adarian he knew abandoned him in hell and was a vicious bastard- him professing to give a damn about anything or anyone was...Not possible. There had to be more to it.

 **His father was pretty worthless, but the one thing about him was that he made good on his threats. All of them. And since he'd already killed twelve people, Nick figured he wouldn't think twice about killing him either. Especially since his father had no great love of him.**

"That's...harsh." Marissa couldn't think of anything else to say. It wasn't just harsh, but horrible. To live knowing your father would have no qualms about killing you?

And Nick's father was a _serial killer_? Amanda and Tabitha opened their mouth at something Nick had _not_ deigned to tell them; he'd only mentioned his father had been in and out of prison various times. The crime had never been specified. And he had been forced to live with the man whenever his father was on Parole? _Holy...Holy shit._ Amanda considered herself a rather decent human being, but she was quite grateful the man had died in a prison riot when Nick was eleven. Or at least, that's what she remembered Nick telling her.

 **So he kept his anger locked in and refused to say anything to hurt her feelings.**

 **Unfortunately, his mother gave him no reprieve. "Don't you get sullen on me, boy. I'm sick of that look on your face. Tell me why you attacked that kid. Now."**

 **Nick clenched his teeth tight.**

" **Answer me, Nick, or so help me , I'll spank you, even at your age."**

Nick scoffed. _Good luck with that._

 **He had to stop himself from rolling** **his eyes at her ludicrous threat. Even at fourteen, he was more than a head taller than his tiny mother and he had a good forty pounds on her. "He made fun of me."**

"That was the best lie you could deal?" Urian asked, scandalized. "If you're going to lie, at least make an effort!"

Nick growled at him. " _Lying,_ wasn't the point. It was avoiding the truth."

" **And for that you'd jeopardize your entire future? What were you thinking? He laughed at you. So what? Believe me, that's not the worst thing that will ever happen to you. You have to grow up, Nicky, and stop acting like a baby. Just because someone mocks you is no reason to fight. Now is it?"**

Seth glanced away from the screen, momentarily reviewing the times he beat the _crap_ out of demons when they insulted him. Or insinuated anything about him. Sure, it wasn't the worst thing that had ever happened...but if they insulted you continually, it gave others a reason to disrespect you, until you had no hold over anyone, allowing them to do as they pleased. Which defeated the purpose of being Noir's... _Yeah, let's not go there._ Some things were just better left alone.

 **No. He swallowed attacks against him all the time. What he wouldn't suffer were attacks against his mom. And he shouldn't have to. "I'm sorry."**

Marissa shifted uncomfortably. Nice to know she wasn't the only kid who's been reamed by their mother, but sitting through maternal scorn was seriously unnerving.

 **She held her hand up. "Don't even go there. You're not sorry. I can see it in your eyes. I am so disappointed in you. I thought I'd taught you better, but apparently you're determined to grow up into a no-account criminal just like your daddy, in spite of everything I do to keep you straight. Now go to your room until I calm down. You can stay there for the rest of the day."**

 _Oh._ Ash and Kyrian blinked; so this is what Nick meant by his mother refused to listen. But in Cherise's defense, Nick hadn't told her what actually happened...but they couldn't blame him for his choice.

Nick felt his stomach sink at the words. He was torn between happiness at hearing her voice- after so, so long- and wanting to make for nearest exit because she was _not_ happy with him. The fact Cherise didn't know anyone was watching, that they weren't actually there, that this was basically recorded from the past...all Nick heard was the voice of his pissed off Mother. And it was screwing with fight or flight response.

" **I'm supposed to work this afternoon. Ms. Liza needs to help move her stock around in the store room."**

Amanda blinked. "Wait...Nick used to work for Liza?" Kyrian nodded. "Apparently, he'd been working for her since he was 12, doing whatever the store needed."

"How on Earth did that happen?"

Nick piped up from the back. "I cleaned a bunch of shit off her front porch. Got paid in cookies."

Tabitha snorted, smiling wide. "Nick Gautier. Dark Side. Will work for cookies. Hire from nearest Sith HQ!"

"And I don't take that raisin cookie crap. Those disgusting things can go rot in Azmodea. Choco-chip or no deal."

 **She growled. "Fine. You can go, but then it's straight home. You hear me? I don't want you wasting time with any of those hoodlums you call friends."**

"Should I be offended? Although I'm pretty sure I didn't know you by then..." murmered Tabitha. 'Hoodlums' had been one of the nicer words for her group of seriously deviant vampire slayers.

Nick rolled his eyes. "She's not referring to you in any way. It's the gang I used to run with."

Kyrian scowled. "Those freakin' punks...wait." Kyrian looked at Nick for conformation; he gave a slight nod in response.

" **Yes, ma'am." Nick headed to his "room" and pulled the blankets closed. Sick and tired of it all, he sat down on the old, lumpy mattress and leaned his head back against the wall where he saw the pieces of the ceiling that were discolored and peeling up.**

 **And then he heard it….**

 **The sound of his mother's tears coming through the wall of her bedroom. God, how he hated that sound.**

If Nick had felt ill before, this cemented it. He could never abide his Mother's tears and this time was no different. He tensed, trying to withstand the sound.

And it wasn't just him. Ash and Kyrian were caught in a state of indecision, and Marissa was low-key plugging her ears. Crying mothers created one of the most gut-wrenching sounds on planet Earth, and even the men who didn't have loving mothers were left in serious discomfort.

" **I'm sorry, Mom." he whispered, wishing he'd strangled Stone where the creep stood.**

"You really should have." Grumbled Urian, still trying to mentally block out Cherise's tears. He'd only met the woman a time or two in Sanctuary before she died, but her actions recalled memories of his adopted mother, and it hurt. A lot. Not to mention his birth mother who was sitting right next to him.

 **One day...one day he was going to get out of this hellhole. Even if he had to kill someone to do it.**

That final statement went through everyone like a lead brick. They understood his desperation, why he would think such...but he was still a Malachai. Still someone fated to tear the world to shreds and bring pantheons to their knees. And his conviction was as good as prophecy.

Even for a 14 year old.

Nick sighed as he felt the change in the atmosphere. _Figures..._ A single threatening word from him and walls went straight up.

 **It was nine o'clock when Nick left Liza's store. He'd already picked up his assignments from Brynna at her huge mansion of a house on his way into work. Then he'd put in five hours so that he could save money for his "college fund." 'Course at the rate it was accumulating, he'd be fifty before he could go. But something was better than nothing. Liza locked the door to her shop while he stood behind her to shield her from anyone who might be watching them.** **"Good night, Nicky. Thanks for all your help."**

" **Night, Liza." He waited until she was safely in her car and on her way home before he headed down Royal Street toward the Square.**

 _Well..._ Bethany thought. _He isn't completely lost yet. Words aside, his actions seem noble._

 **The closest streetcar stop was over behind Jackson Brewery. But as he neared the Square, he wanted to see his mom and apologize for getting suspended.**

"Oooh, no, boy. That is going to blow up in your face in the worst way possible." Stated Urian, shaking his head. _Don't do it. Don't even try. It's a_ fucking _trap!_

 _ **She told you to go straight home…**_

Urian nodded. "Yup. So just... turn...keep going right..."

 **Yeah, but he'd made her cry and he hated whenever he did that. Besides, the condo was really lonely when he was there alone at night. They didn't have TV or anything else to do.**

 **And he'd already read Hammer's Slammers until he could quote it.**

 **Maybe if he apologized, she'd let him hang out at the club for the night.**

 **So instead of turning right, he made a left and headed for her club on Bourbon Street.**

"Gods damn it!" Urian proceeded to silently cuss Nick out...except Nick could hear everything.

He called out to Urian. "Spoiler alert. _Everything_ gets FUBAR'ed."

"Shut up, Nick!"

 **The faint sounds of jazz and zydeco music coming out of stores and restaurants soothed him. Closing his eyes as he walked, he inhaled the sweet smell of cinnamon and gumbo as he passed the Cafe Pontalba. His stomach rumbled. Since he hadn't been at school, his lunch had consisted of more powdered eggs and bacon, and he had yet to eat dinner...which would be those nasty eggs again.**

 **Not wanting to think about that, he walked down the narrow alley to the back door of the club and knocked.**

 **John Chartier, One of the huge, burly bouncers who watched out for the dancers, opened it with a fierce frown-until he saw Nick. A wide smile spread over his face. "Hey, buddy. You here to see your mom?"**

That action alone told them how often Nick had been around the Strip Club in general.

" **Yeah. Is she on stage yet?"**

" **Nah, she's still got a few minutes." He stood back so that Nick could walk down the dark back hallway to the green room.**

 **He paused at the door to the room where the dancers dressed and rested between performances, and knocked.**

 **Tiffany answered. Absolutely stunning, she was tall and blond...and barely dressed in a G-string and lacy top.**

"Eep!" Marissa squeaked.

"HOLY! Marissa, Look away!" Amanda dove for her daughter's innocent eyes. It was too late, but it made her feel better. She glared in Nick and Savitar's general direction, not sure who she was going to blame. She really wished her powers had kicked in _before_ Marissa saw that.

Except Nick wasn't looking directly at the screen, but gazed slightly at the bottom. "Sorry, Amanda. I had forgotten about that bit. I promise, There won't be any other partial nudity or otherwise. Although there's going to be some serious violence in a bit, so you might want to have Marissa cover her ears and close her eyes."

That made people straighten. Ash rubbed his thumb against his wife's shoulder, having a pretty good guess where this might be leading, even though it didn't make sense. _Nick would have been 16, not 14..._

 **Even though he'd been raised around women dressed like that and was used to it, his face flamed bright red as he kept his gaze on the floor. It was like seeing his sister naked.**

 **Tiffany laughed, cupping his chin in her hand. "Cherise? It's your Nicky." She squeezed his chin affectionately. "You're so sweet the way you won't look at us. I knew it was you when you knocked. No one else is so nice. All I can say is your mama is raising you right."**

Her words struck an odd cord in Ash, and he didn't want to examine it. Sometimes...no, he basically spaced the fact Nick had grown up in and around a stripper's club. Seeing him being decent and respectful to those working there was...Ash promptly ignored the thought and filed it away. Styxx eyed him, but didn't comment.

 **Nick mumbled a thank-you as he stepped past her and made his way to his mom's dressing station. He kept his gaze down until he was sure his mom was covered by her pink bathrobe.**

Amanda breathed a sigh of relief, and Marissa peaked out from her hands to start watching again.

 **But when he caught her furious glare in the chipped mirror where she was putting on her makeup, his stomach hit the floor. There was no forgiveness in that face tonight.**

" **I thought I told you to go straight home."**

" **I wanted to say I was sorry again."**

 **She put down her mascara wand. "No, you didn't. You wanted to try and make me tell you that you didn't have to stay on restriction. I won't have it, Nicholas Ambrosius Gautier. And your paltry apology doesn't change the fact that you knew better. You have to learn to think before you act. That temper of yours is going to get you into serious trouble one day. Just like it did your father. Now go home and contemplate what you did and how wrong it was."**

Wow. No one really had the words to describe it. Most of them knew Cherise as being completely doting of her son, and vice verse. Yes, they had their disagreements, but no where near this extent or ferocity. They had just watched Cherise lay into her son on two separate occasions, without knowing and then assuming the entire backstory of the root problem. It was odd for the parents in the room to see it from Nick's perspective instead of solely Cherise's- and it made them want to seriously reconsider how to approach their own kids.

Because even though Cherise was right -Nick's temper _had_ gotten him into a great deal of trouble in the future, and the fact Cherise could point that out without knowing Nick's heritage was uncanny- she was only partially right. They had known by Nick's own admission he hadn't been there to get out of groundation, but merely sought somewhere where he wouldn't be isolated and hoped to apologize for being a moron.

Styxx could understand the urge not to be alone, and the kid shouldn't be punished for wanting to apologize twice.

" **But Mom-"**

" **Don't 'but Mom' me. Go!"**

" **Cherise!" Her handler shouted, letting her know it was time to go on stage.**

Ash clenched his fist, not happy with Cherise's main source of livelihood. _It's fine. We know life gets better for them._

...Until everything went straight to hell. Ash sighed, putting that out of his mind. Like Savitar said: he needed to get off the cross; someone else needs the wood.

 **She stood up. "I mean it, Nick. Go home."**

 **Nick turned around and left the club, feeling even worse than he had when he'd left Liza's. Why wouldn't his mom believe him?**

 **Why couldn't she see that he wasn't trying to play her?**

 **Whatever...he was tired of trying to convince the world, and especially his mom, that he wasn't worthless. On the street, he headed down Bourbon toward canal, where he could pick up a closer streetcar. He hated when his mom treated him like a criminal. He was** _ **not**_ **his father. He would** _ **never**_ **be like that man.**

Cadegan stared up at the screen, the foreign emotion of empathy flooding through him for a demon that he had been told to avoid. Not being your father's carbon copy, and doing everything you could to not end up like him...Cadegan could understand that in a way he wished he didn't.

Thorn said nothing, and stared at the screen bitterly.

 _ **Fine, I'll never protect your honor again. Let them insult and mock you. See if I care.**_ **Why should he bother when doing the right thing made her so mad at him?**

 **Angry, hurt, and disgusted, he heard someone call his name.**

 **Pausing, he saw Tyree, Alan, and Mike across the street, hanging outside a tourist bead and mask store. They waved him over.**

Kyrian cursed.

Amanda looked between him and the screen, before something clicked. "Wait- is this when...?"

Kyrian glared at the assholes. "Yeah, this is where I saved Nick's life."

Urian scowled. "Way to spoil the fun, Hunter." But Kyrian didn't laugh; only folded his arms in contempt at what would happen.

Marissa looked up at him curiously. "You saved Nick?" Kyrian nodded, surprised.

"Yes, he was my squire. I thought I told you that." Nick pricked his ears up, curious.

"Yea," Marissa started, "but you never said you saved his life." The others who didn't know about the logistics of Nick becoming Kyrian's squire became curious, looking between the man in question and his Ex-Squire. Tory, for one, was itching to take notes and figure out what happened before the events played on screen.

 **Nick crossed the street to tap his fist against theirs.**

" **What's up?"**

 **Tyree leaned his head back in silent salute to him.**

" **Hanging. What you doing?"**

" **Heading home."**

 **Tyree slapped at the collar of Nick's orange shirt. "Boy, what you got on? That shit's hideous."**

 **Nick slapped his hand away. "Clothes. What's that crap you got on and what truck did it fall off of?"**

 **Tyree snorted and preened. "These my Romeo threads. They make all the ladies call me tasty."**

 **Nick scoffed. "Tasty-crazy. Them ain't no Romeo duds. Those fashions by Geek Street."**

 **They all laughed.**

Hmm. Tabitha frowned. Even if she hadn't known what happened to Nick, (And she was the last person to judge anyone), these guys just screamed shady.

 **Mike sobered. "Look, we got a thing tonight and we could use a fourth. You want in? It should be worth a couple hundred dollars to you."**

Styxx shook his head, already seeing where this was going. Thanks to Acheron's memories, he knew quite a bit about Nick and his mother.

 **Nick's eyes widened at the sum. That was a lot of money. Tyree, Mike, and Alan were hustlers. Though his mom would have a stroke if she ever found out, he'd been known to help them a time or two when they'd scammed locals and tourists. "Pool, poker, or craps?"**

 **Alan and Tyree exchanged an amused look. "This is more a job of watchdog. At least for you. We got the big boss from Storyville who's paying us to shake down some deadbeats. It'll only take a couple of minutes."**

"Wait...what? Can someone translate that?" asked Marissa, a little confused. 'Shake down some deadbeats'? What did that even mean...?

Nick sighed, running a hand through his hair. "They told me they were going to demand payment from someone who forgot to pay their bills on time, which may or may not have included some roughhousing. They wanted me to act as watchdog, to keep an eye out for anyone else." Marissa nodded in understanding, although a little intimidated he would do something like that.

 **Nick screwed his face up. "I don't know about that."**

Marissa sighed. _Okay, so he hadn't been entirely up for it._

 **Tyree tsked. "C'mon, Nick. We don't have much time before we have to be there and we really need someone to watch the street. Five minutes and you'll make more money than working a month for that old lady."**

Jo winced at the reality of the situation. She knew the struggle from living paycheck to paycheck, and dutifully trying to put away money when you really had nothing left over to save. The temptation...hell, now that she thought about it, she'd even taken a job herself that she normally would have turned down, and that really did lead into all kinds of messed up...ah, except, it wasn't illegal, and it had been recommended by her cousin, so it was actually a few step ups from what Nick was currently doing. Or did. And on that note...

 _Run away, kid! The candy isn't as good as it looks!_

 **Nick looked back toward his mom's club. Normally, he'd have told them to forget it, but right now…**

 _ **If everyone's going to call me a worthless delinquent, I might as well be one.**_

' **Cause living right sure wasn't paying off for him.**

Nick breathed out, exasperated at himself. Those were the thoughts of an immature brat who couldn't see past his own misery for one fucking second.

...Even though there were days he still believed such. I mean, really, why go through the hell he did when no one even cared to give him the benefit of the doubt? Treated him like a criminal without hearing the facts?  
Like everyone had done no less than twenty minutes ago when he walked into Sav's throne room?

Ash rubbed his face, feeling Nick's pain and knowing there was not a damn thing he could do to change it.

 **"You sure it's five minutes?"**

Urian groaned. "Ugh. I know you're going to be stupid...but, dude..."

 **Tyree nodded. "Absolutely. In and out and we're done."**

 **Then he could be home and his mom wouldn't be the wiser. For once, he enjoyed the thought of sticking it to her, even though she would never know about it.**

" **All right. I'm in."**

Urian let out a frusterated huff. "...Of course you're a moron. Not like we didn't already know that, but nice to have the confirmation." Nick clenched his hands, debating whether socking Urian in the face would be worth getting his ass kicked by Styxx. He knew _now_ it had been a stupid decision- hell, he knew five minutes after he made it the decision was stupid-, but he'd been pissed, hungry, tired, and absolutely sick of his life at the time. Still...he knew it didn't excuse his actions. And it had been years ago. You make mistakes, you move on. Nick forced himself to relax, even as a twinge of guilt crept up on him. He really didn't care for rehashing this out. Couldn't a man make mistakes and keep it private?

" **Good man."**

"Not really." Nick muttered.

 **Nick looked at Alan, who was nineteen. "Can you guys give me a ride home after?"**

" **For you, boy? Anything."**

Kyrian glared at the screen. Bastards.

 **Nodding, Nick followed them over to a seedy part of North Rampart. Tyree put him on the street, blocking an alley.**

" **You stay right here and watch for the Five-O. Let us know if you see anyone."**

 **Nick inclined his head to him.**

 **They vanished into the shadows, while he stood there, waiting. After a few minutes, an old couple walked past him on the sidewalk. By their dress and manners, he could tell they were tourists just taking a late stroll off the beaten path.**

" **Hi there," the woman said to him, smiling.**

" **Hi." Nick returned the expression. But his smile died an instant later when Alan leapt out of the shadows to grab the woman while Tyree knocked the man into a wall.**

 **Nick was stunned. "What are you doing?"**

" **Shut up!" Alan snarled, pulling out a gun. "All right, grandpa. Give us your money or the old ho gets it right between her eyes."**

Marissa gasped. "That is _not_ what they said!"

"Okay, that escalated very, very quickly...uhm, this has a happy ending, right?" Jo looked over at Nick and his DH mark. "Or not." He scowled and looked away, but answered her question.

"Don't worry. Everything ends up being okay."

Seth looked between Nick and the screen. "For you, or for them?" Nick didn't reply.

 **Nick felt the color drain from his face. This couldn't be happening. They were mugging two tourists?**

 _ **And I'm helping…**_

 **For a full minute he couldn't breathe as he watched the woman cry and the man beg them not to hurt her.**

 **Before he even realized what he was doing, he grabbed Alan's hand that held the gun and knocked it away. "Run!" He shouted at the couple.**

 **They did.**

 **Tyree started after them, but Nick tackled him to the ground.**

Tory raised her eyebrows at the scene. "Holy cow. That...he is so screwed." Her eyes widened as she realized what Nick had meant by 'serious violence'. Her face paled. "They didn't let you get away with that."

"Nope." Nick stated, rubbing his shoulder. It had hurt like _hell..._

 **Alan caught him by the collar of his shirt and jerked him back. "Man, what are you doing?"**

 **Nick shoved him. "I can't let you mug someone. That wasn't the deal."**

Styxx couldn't help but admire the kid. It took guts, standing up too three practically matured adults, one of which had a gun.

" **You stupid…" Alan hit him in the face with the gun.**

 **Pain exploded in Nick's skull as he tasted blood.**

Amanda winced, and went to cover Marissa's eyes; but the girl had already beat her to it, peeking through her fingertips every so often to see snippets.

Seth hissed as if he felt the blow himself. "That would hurt."

"Like a fricken' nail gun." Nick spat.

" **You're going to pay for that, Gautier."**

 **The three of them descended on him so fast and furious that he couldn't even see to fight back. One minute he was standing and the next he was on the ground with his arms wrapped around his head to protect it from the gun Alan was beating him with. They stomped and beat on him until he lost all feeling in his legs and one arm.**

Tory sucked in a breath at what they did to him, grabbing Acheron's hand.

They beat the ever living- and she normally didn't curse- _shit_ out him. He was a 14 year old child, for heaven's sake! He didn't even have a weapon. What the hell was their- Tory cut herself off, before she asked herself a stupid question. Looking to her right, she could see Bethany ram-rod straight, nose scrunched in absolute disgust. Old habits died hard, and Tory supposed a Judge of Bathymaas' caliber would never be able to separate herself from weighing the good and bad.

Tory didn't have to ask who Bethany had judged guilty in this instance. Yes, Nick had made a dumb move, but no one should be put through _that_. Even Sin looked pissed, and the man hadn't been paying attention for the most part.

 **Alan stepped back and angled the gun on him. "Say your prayers, Gautier. You're about to become a statistic."**

 **00000000000**

 *** Just in case anyone was wondering, the character's thoughts aren't mine. I personally think Nick Gautier rocks my socks no matter what age he is, and that goes for all the characters. But from DH Nick/Ambrose's perspective...he's nothing special. Remember, Ambrose wanted to kill Nick, and that sentiment is shared rather strongly with DH Nick. And the same goes for all the other characters- I'm trying to write them in a way they would react naturally, instead of the way I might want them to.**

 _ ******_ **Everyone currently thinks DH Nick wrote that letter. They don't know it's from future-nearly-insane Ambrose.**

 *****Not gonna lie, y'all, but even with Nick's explanation It took me forever stop saying 'Gah-shay' in my head, instead of the correct 'Go-shay'.**

 ****** I got those descriptions from the DH website. And even with Kody's physical differences from her mother, I think they look enough alike her family would at least realize something was up. And Set being Set...attacks things.  
**

 **I hope you all liked this, and hopefully I won't need to edit too much. I try to proof read, but I always end up missing a mistake or two. Oh, well. Enjoy the rest of your day, and if you can, Please review! -RS.**


	3. Chapters 2 & 3

**I am...so sorry. This took me a lot longer than it was supposed to. See, the goal was to combine chapter's 2 & 3 because both of them are pretty short, but a bunch of stuff happened and...yeah. Took awhile.**

 **By the way, no matter how many times you ask or how long it takes for me to update, the answer to whether I've dropped this story is always the same: No. I have not. I'm just a slow updater. The plan is to continue. And that goes for my other stories as well, especially JoCM. As long as Malphas lives, that one will definitely be continued.**

 **The problem is I'm going to a no-Internet-cell-reception zone where I won't be able to update/edit for around four months, or talk to you wonderful people who drop reviews and geek out with me over Mrs. Kenyon's latest releases. All those times I've had a long break from updating was prepping for the no-internet zone. The fact I managed to post at all this summer kinda surprises me; I've been out of it. (By the way, have you read DragonMark yet? Do it. Do it now. Find the sentence that will blow your mind and compare it to DragonBane. *Shoves you in the general direction of nearest bookstore.*)**

 **Also, I apologize in advance for editing errors. I will go back and edit...and be horrified you saw any of the mistakes...but it will be done. Hopefully before I leave. -RS**

 **P.S I love you, Bro! See, I posted! (Albeit weeks after I had promised it...but I did update!)**

 **P.S.S To answer a Guest's question about whether or not I'll be doing all the CON books: I don't think so. I know for a fact I will finish the first book Infinity because I want to finish what I start, but I had no idea how much work it took to make this kind of fic going in. If possible, I will, but It would take awhile. Oh! And because I forgot to mention it:**

 **SPOILERS FOR INVISION IN CHAPTER! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE LATEST CON BOOK, DO NOT READ! CRAP! I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT! IF I RUINED SOMETHING FOR YOU, I APOLOGIZE PROFUSELY!**

 **Mrs. Kenyon owns All of this! Aaaaall ooooof iiiiit. Capisce?**

 **0000000000**

 **"Say you prayers, Gautier. You're about to become a statistic."**

Nick's head throbbed, as if someone decided it'd be a fantastic idea to hit him over the head with a lead pipe. Something about Alan's words...an image floated in his head, but was quickly lost to remembering the hard ground he had lain on as a kid about to die, Alan's crew of laughing voices intermingled with hellish pain…

Yeah, not mentioning that there's something about staring down the muzzle of a gun that never seems to leave you...

 **Nick wanted to lash out so badly he could taste it.** _**I won't die like this. Not beaten in a gutter by people who're supposed to be my friends. Guys I've known and played with my whole life. I won't.**_

 **Yet here he lay.**

 **Helpless. Weak.**

 **Defeated.**

In other words, really damn embarrassing. Nick wondered how many times he'd be using that word over the next few days. 100? 200?

 **Not only were his taste buds drenched with blood, he felt like he was suffocating on it. His mind ached to fight until they were begging him for mercy-it wanted him to get up and make them eat their teeth, but his body refused to cooperate. Nothing was listening to him. Heck, he couldn't even keep them from hitting him.**

Everyone present grimaced.

"Yeah...not one of my better days." Nick murmured, feeling ghost pains all over again.

Sin shook his head; Nick being beaten wasn't the only problem: Even with Nick on the ground, his animalistic thought process smacked of Malachai tendencies. Most kids- _most adults_ \- would be begging for Alan to stop, and mentally panicking and trying to figure out how to escape. To end the misery.

But this kid? 'Let's see whether I have enough mobile movement to beat them within an inch of their lives.' _Vengence_ \- that was his number one focus above the pain.

Although, in his defense, Sin would be the same way. So maybe it was more of a 'contentious bastard' thing than a demon thing.

 **Unable to do anything at all, he glared his hatred at Alan and hoped that the look alone would haunt the rat for the rest of eternity.**

Urian tilted his head. _Pretty sure that's not gonna work._

 **Alan laughed as he squeezed the trigger.**

 **Holding his breath, Nick waited for the sound that would end his life.**

 **Out of the darkness, a blur rushed in at the same instant Alan fired the gun.**

Marissa smiled, recognizing her father, even as a blur of trained speed. She tugged on his sleeve, smiling proudly. She pointed at the screen. "Back when you were cool."

Kyrian's jaw dropped, offended. "Excuse me? I'm still cool!" He looked to his wife. "Right?"

Amanda giggled. "Sure, sweetheart."

Kyrian scowled. "Traitors. I should go sit with Nick."

 **One moment, Tyree, Alan, and Mike were laughing at his pain while they insulted him. In the next, they were flying through the air hitting the ground near him hard enough to break bones.**

Tabitha clenched her fist. " _Yeeesss."_ she hissed. Pay back! _Get PWNED!_

 **Nick froze as he tried to figure out where he'd been shot, but his body hurt so much that he couldn't tell.** _ **Maybe it missed me…**_

 _Yeah, no. Boy, when you gonna learn your luck ain't that good?_ Nick rubbed at his shoulder subconsciously, watching the screen in interest. Sure, he had already gone through this stuff, but... it was nice to see what had happened from a different perspective. Without, you know, the constant pain, blood in the eyes, and slight concussion.

 **Lying on the street, he caught a flash of blonde hair and black clothes as someone attacked his ex-friends.**

Urian scowled. 'Ex-friends? Is that even a thing?"

Jo shrugged. "Yep."

 **Alan cried out and the gun landed on the ground beside him.**

 **The blonde man tsked. "Shame you're too young to kill. But in two years, I catch you doing this crap again, you won't live long enough to rethink it." With one hand, he threw Alan into the street like a rag doll.**

 _Daaamn._ Amanda gave her husband on screen an appreciative look-over. It'd been years since she'd seen DH Kyrian, but...she glanced over at her husband, who threw her a charming smile. Yup; still hot, even without the intimidating walk and coat. _I scored._

 **In a swirl of black and a flash of silver, the man turned to face Nick. He didn't know why, but the guy reminded him more of a rich stockbroker than someone able to take down street-hardened gangbangers.**

Amanda threw her hands up into the air. "I am _not_ the only!"

Tabitha concurred. "I know right? First time I stabbed him, I was like, 'Seriously? Going for the whole 'vampiric lawyer' thing?"

Valerius scowled. "Isn't that what you thought of me?"

"Well, yeah. You guys dress similar." The men gave her an offended look.

 _"We do not!"_ Valerius declared, scandalized.

"And could everyone please stop insulting my fashion sense? There's nothing wrong with it!" Kyrian defended.

Styxx, more worried about the whole stabbing-deal, mouthed out Tabitha's words. " 'The first time'...you tried again?'

"Duh. 'Course, that's 'cause I found out he had a thing with Mandy."

Kyrian ignored them all.

 **And he wasn't all the old either. Maybe his late twenties.**

 **Maybe.**

"Yeah...is there any set reason why immortals have to be young and hot?" Asked Jo, confused on how it just works out so nicely. Cadegan raised a brow.

"...Would you rather me be an old, crotchety man?" Jo scrunched her nose.

"No, but...you know what I mean!"

 **Nick could barely draw his breath as the man came forward with the walk of a vicious predator. He was dressed all in black. An expensive leather coat draped around a body that was lethal.**

Kyrian's eyebrows shot north in mirth at the description. _Now this is interesting._

Having Nick's perspective...he didn't have to envy Nick's position to be incredibly curious of what the boy thought of him. So maybe Kyrian was a little vain. What? He had gone from not ageing a second in two thousand years to looking three years older once he had his soul returned to going _back_ to being immortal thanks to Ash. Immortality whiplash takes it's own toll.

Nick groaned and debated hitting his head against the wall. Who knows? Maybe he could get out of remembering the next couple of hours of his life.

 **But it was the flash of silver on a pair of black boots that caught his attention.**

 **One of them had a knife protruding from the toe. A knife that retracted as he came closer. The man knelt down, his brow furrowed, into a deep frown. "They made a mess of you, kid. Can you stand?"**

It was weird to hear his voice and see himself on-screen; Kyrian should have known he'd would've been present, as he'd been a major part of Nick's life (If he was allowed to claim such). But...actually seeing himself was odd. Like he was an actor for a movie he remembered seeing once. (Called 'reality'.) Except it wasn't a movie, and Kyrian hadn't been acting.

 **Nick slapped at his hand as the man reached out to touch him. He didn't need help from anyone. Especially not a stranger.**

 **He tried to push himself to his feet, then everything went black.**

"What were you thinking, kid?" Lydia whispered. The poor boy had been pulverized. He shouldn't have been trying to stand in that situation, let alone breath. And Seth had been injured far worse than that…

She gripped Seth's hand, disturbed by how far someone could be beaten and still stand. Or, at least try to.

 **Kyrian Hunter barely caught the skinny kid dressed in a foully orange Hawaiian shirt before he hit the street. That hideous thing had saved his life. So bright it practically glowed, it'd called out to him as he'd been walking by and had alerted him to the fight.**

Kyrian's face paled as he heard his thoughts loud and clear, like Nick's had been just a moments ago. His blushed, embarrassment and anger creeping up his neck. _Oh, hell no._ He turned all the way around to face Savitar. "If these are Nick's memories, why are MINE showing up?"

Savitar gave him an irritated look. "Oh, come on. Haven't you ever watched...what's it called? Jury and trials? Trial and Jury...something or other? 'The whole truth and nothing but the truth' deal? Mean's different POV's are needed….such as witnesses. Lucky you."

Suddenly, Kyrian didn't like this idea anymore. Nobody had mentioned _he'd_ be apart of this ordeal. He covered his face with his hands and groaned, his wife and daughter laughing at his misery. But it wasn't funny. Not even remotely. What had he even been thinking back then? Hopefully nothing offensive...but then again, he could be a major asshole, so...he gave out a disgusted sigh.

Nick smirked sardonically. "Not as much fun as you thought, eh Boss?'

"Shut up, Nick."

 **From what he'd seen, the kid was a tough little scrapper. He'd give him that. And the boy could take a vicious beating without begging for mercy. There weren't many adults who could have gone through what he had without crying.**

 **That alone made him respect the kid.**

Nick's teasing of Kyrian stopped as he registered those words. He felt this intense need to start kicking grass and looking anywhere else except the screen. People had never paid him many compliments to begin with, but since his DH transition, they've been few and far in between. Oddly, hearing himself complimented was more embarrassing than having his memories shown on screen.

 **He glared at the other punks, who were running down the street as fast as they could. The ancient warrior and predator inside him wanted to hunt them down and kill them for what they'd done. But the man in him knew this one, the one who'd put his life on the line to save the elderly couple, wouldn't live if he did. The cowards could unfortunately wait for another** **butt-whipping.**

Styxx had known from Acheron's memories that Kyrian was a good man, but seeing his actions like this made a good argument as to why his brother eventually befriended him.

 _Huh,_ Marissa thought. It was interesting seeing her father this way. Normally, she just got the weird adult who liked to sit outside in the sun all day, who complained regularly about his man-van. But here, her father seemed...younger. More relatable. Weird...

 **He tilted the kid's face so that he could see his features. The short brown hair was saturated with blood, and a huge cut would most likely leave a scar right above his left eyebrow. His nose was broken and by the looks of it, his jaw would be too. If not broken, they'd pounded it real good. Blood poured from his shoulder where he'd been shot.**

Bethany's face pulled into a frown at the sight. The amount of damage had been undeserved, despite the mistakes made up to the moment.

Others in the room were twisting their faces in disgust, having a very close-up view of how mangled Nick had been. They just had to repeat the fact Nick obviously survived, or he wouldn't be standing behind him. Which was odd, since some of them didn't even have that strong of a bond with him. Other than Nick had been a child, why should they care if he'd been attacked?

 **Poor kid.**

 **Picking him up, Kyrian carried him to his car so that he could get him to the hospital before he bled out and died.**

"Because that would have sucked…?" _Ah, crap._ Nick hadn't meant for that to be a question. Which made him want to kick himself for the look Kyrian made. Even from behind, you could tell when someone was smiling or frowning, based on how their back moved and shoulder dropped. And he was pretty sure Kyrian made an immediate frown on his face.

Gah, that is _not_ what he had meant…exactly.

 _You should probably shut up now._

 **Kyrian paced the waiting room, where several dozen other people sat in various states of agitation and illness. It's been almost two hours since he'd handed the teenager over to the staff and still no word about the kid he'd found.**

 **Was he even still alive?**

 **Checking his watch, he growled. He really didn't have the time to stay here, waiting…**

 **He had important duties to attend to and, with luck, more lives to save before dawn.**

" **What are you doing here, General?"**

 **He froze at the deep, thickly accented voice.**

And so did everyone else in the hall, none of whom were expecting to see a certain Goth-Atlantean so soon.

Minus Ash: He'd already guessed this was how the cookie crumbled. He glared over at Savitar, who ignored him by way of shrugging. Again.

. _..He's going to be acting like this for awhile, isn't he…?_ Ash glanced at the ceiling for guidance.

Nick was simply confused.

"Wait...Ash was there at the hospital?"

Kyrian nodded. "How do you think I contacted your mother?" Nick scowled. Well, that be a fun tidbit he never needed to know. Although it did explain Kyrian somehow knowing how to get a hold of a woman without a phone...and it's not like Kyrian had gone to strip clubs to enjoy the view. More like he went there to stake ink blots.

 **Since Acheron was an eleven-thousand-year-old omnipotent immortal, he was the last person Kyrian had expected to find in a hospital. Not like the man could ever break a bone or get sick.**

"I can break a bone...it just won't stay that way." Ash defended.

 _Oh, gods. It has begun._ Kyrian rubbed his temple, waiting for the moment he pissed off his former-boss-now-friend.

 **He turned around slowly to find Acheron just inside the doorway. At six foot eight with dark green hair and dressed in black Goth gear complete with a spiked leather motorcycle jacket, he was an impressive sight that made everyone who saw him swallow in fear.**

Well, then. Not that Ash hadn't known what his Dark-Hunters thought of him, but an ego boost was always nice. And seeing how Kyrian was shifting uncomfortably on his bean bag, waves of apprehension rolling off him...yup. Ash still had it. Twenty years later and still intimidating the crap out of people.

"Aww- lookatit, lookatit!" Tabitha cooed. Val titled his head in confusion.

"I don't see...what exactly am I looking at?"

"Oh, for the love of-" Tabitha gestured at the screen annoyed that he couldn't see it.

"It's the return of Long-Haired Ash! The rare Pokemon!"

Ash looked to the ceiling. "Is anyone ever going to let that go? ...Never mind. Stupid question."

 **But it wasn't just his height that gave people pause. It was the lethal aura of I'll-kick-your-butt-so-hard-your-ancestors'-ears-will-ring. Anyone who came near him could feel the unearthly power that bled from the pores of this particular…**

 **Being.**

"I'll take that as a compliment, General." Ash said, grinning.

Kyrian just let out another teenage-worthy groan. _At least I haven't said anything stupid. Yet._

" **What are** _ **you**_ **doing here?" Kyrian asked.**

"Volunteering, right?" Tory guessed.

Ash put his finger to his lips. "Need to know basis."

 **His eyes completely shielded by a pair of opaque predator sunglasses even though it was almost midnight, Acheron cut loose with a lopsided grin that antagonized him. "I asked** _**you**_ **first."**

 **If it'd been anyone other than Acheron making that smart-aleck comment, Kyrian would give him a higher dose of attitude. But attitude didn't work on Acheron. It just pissed him off, which was never a good thing.**

Urian scoffed. "Never stopped _me_."

" _That's cause you're suicidal! And lacking in common sense!"_ yelled Alexion from the back room. The group had almost forgotten Danger and Alexion were in the kid's room listening.

" _Quiet, Ias!"_ The door from the kids room was slammed shut.

" **I found a kid getting a major ass-whipping on the street. I don't know who he is but I don't want to leave him here without an adult to watch over him. He was pretty badly mangled in the fight and not old enough to be left alone."**

 **Acheron tilted his head as if he was listening to voices only he could hear. Kyrian hated it whenever he did that. It creeped him out to think what all the man knew about him that Kyrian had never told him…**

" **Name's Gautier. Nick Gautier.**

"What is this? A James Bond introduction?" Sin muttered.

 **He's a fourteen-year-old student at St. Richard's High School on Chartres who lives in the Lower Ninth on Claiborne Ave."**

Nick narrowed his eyes at the screen.

 _That is highly disturbing._

 **Kyrian was impressed. "You know him?"**

 **There was no hint of emotion from Acheron.**

" **Never seen him before."**

" **Yet you know his name?"**

Nick smirked. _What can I say? I get around._

Savitar rolled his eyes at Nick's thought.

 **That cocky grin returned to irritate Kyrian. "I know lots of things, General." Acheron held his hand up and a piece of paper appeared out of nowhere between his fingers. He held it out to him. "His mother's an exotic dancer named Cherise Gautier. You can reach her here. But be warned. She has a sharp tongue where her son's concerned and if she thinks you've hurt him or caused him to be hurt...she's going for blood."**

Hmm. Kind of ironic seeing as Ash would later fall into one of those categories, but Nick let it go. Not even he knew what his mother would have done to Ash had she survived and learned he had tossed Nick into a wall...and then cursed him to die. Not like he would have been able to explain the situation to her, anyway. For all Nick knew, she could have said he deserved it.

 **Kyrian took the paper from his hand. "I'd ask you about these Jedi mind tricks of yours, but I know you won't answer."**

"Aaand you never did." Kyrian pointed out, pride lacing his tone. He hadn't known the finer details of their world until after he'd already regained his soul, but regardless, his guesswork had been spot on.

Then again, Acheron is still a cryptic douche at times. So same old.

Ash glared at him."I heard that…"

 **Acheron tucked his hands into the pockets of his scuffed jacket that had two chains wrapped around the shoulder of it. "No comment, but I will say this." He paused before he spoke again. "Nick isn't Jason. It's a different time and place, General. Don't let the past ruin your future."**

 _Who?_ Nick tilted his head. _Jason…?_ He knew that name, didn't he? Was that the name of a previous squire? Nick sorted through his memories, trying to remember and ignoring the pain in his skull.

Marissa looked between her parent's faces in curiosity as well.

" **Meaning what, oh great Yoda?"**

 **Acheron didn't elaborate. "You take care of the kid. I'll take care of your patrol tonight. I could use the target practice."**

" **Thanks for understanding." After all, Acheron was his boss and could have easily reamed him for not doing his duties.**

"Technically, you _were_ doing your duties." Acheron clarified, despite not needing to. Really, what had Kyrian thought he was going to do _?_ Kick his ass because the man weighed taking care of a kid more important than patrolling for a couple of hours?

….Ash was suddenly grateful his Dark Hunters knew him a little better now. As awesome as it is being a BA, it really sucks when everyone has these seriously misconstrued ideas about what he deemed important.

 **Acheron inclined his head before he made his way out of the room and through the double doors that led to the parking lot. And with him went that powerful charge in the air.**

 **Yeah, Acheron was one scary SOB. But Kyrian wasn't exactly comforting himself. Acheron had trained him and he'd been a master pupil, especially when it came to killing things that shouldn't be living in the first place.**

" 'Master pupil'?" Tabitha questioned, smirking. "Arrogance, anyone?"

"...Look, I really don't remember half of what I was thinking back then!"

"Suure…" Amanda muttered.

 **Glancing at the number in his hand, he pulled his phone out and called Nick's mother.**

"...Why do you sound like you're about to be executed?" Zakar questioned. Honestly, he never met the woman nor remembered much of his own mother, so he wouldn't know whether or not it was that terrifying.

Nick scoffed. "Because you don't ever want to bring bad news to a mother, especially when you've just been informed 'she goes for blood'. Ever. Don't be that guy."

Kyrian sighed. _I was that guy..._ More than he cared to remember, no thanks to Nick.

 **Nick groaned as he blinked open his…**

 **Eye.**

 _ **Uh, gah, what happened?**_

"Everything and nothing, if you want to keep it simple." Nick retorted, recalling how many times Ambrose would say something really cryptic and sarcastic, just to piss him off. He'd always wanted to try it. Ambrose got the chance to call him out as moron, so why couldn't he have his moment as well? Except, technically, he _is_ Ambrose. But technically not. Yet.

 _...I should stop thinking._ Nick rubbed his forehead, his head aching.

 **His head was throbbing and one eye had something over it that prevented him from opening it.** _ **Please don't tell me I've put out an eye.**_ **His mom would flip sideways. It was her biggest fear.**

 _ **Don't play with that fill-in-the-blank, Nick. You could lose an eye.**_ **It was her favorite rant no matter what object he touched, and she'd kill him if he was now a cyclops.**

Urian snorted. "You're sitting in the hospital after being shot and that's your biggest worry?"

"Uh, yeah, No shit. Losing 50% of my eye sight and depth perception is a pretty notable concern. Especially with the all the things out to eat me. Can you imagine trying to fight zombies with one eye and limited ability to aim?"

Jo crossed her arms. "Zombies again? Seriously? What do they have to do with anything?"

Nick scratched his face. "Ah...oops. Forget I said that."

Jo raised a brow.

 _ **God, I'll never get a girlfriend now. Women don't date freaks.**_

Sin rolled his eyes. _Tell that to Artie, kid._

" **Careful, kid."**

 **Nick paused as he realized he was in a hospital room. He tried to sit up, but someone stopped him. His panic increased as he recognized the blond man from the fight. "Where am I?"**

" **Hospital."**

" **Really? No kidding? And here I thought I was at McDonald's." Nick glared at the stupid answer. "I can't be here. We can't afford it."**

Ash and Tory frowned at something that bugged the both of them. Ash, having volunteered at various hospitals over the years, was well-versed in Hospital bureaucracy; and since one of Tory's best friend's happened to be a nurse, she was graced with all the horror stories.

 **The man ignored his rampant sarcasm, keeping his features completely impassive. "Don't worry about the price. It's on me."**

 **Yeah, right. "We don't take charity." Nick winced as pain tore through his skull and he realized his arm was in a sling.** _ **Don't you dare break a bone, Nicky. I can't afford no doctor bill like that. Whatever you do, don't get hurt.**_

 **Nick felt ill over everything that'd happened. "My mom's going to kill me."**

" **I doubt it."**

Kyrian snorted at himself. Sure, Cherise might not kill Nick, but the boy had been reamed on various occasions for being stupid.

 **If the stranger only knew…"Yeah, well, I don't and I happen to have known the woman since the day I was born and she's going to beat me until I bleed." He looked up at the stranger who'd saved his life.**

 **He was huge. Probably around six-four with short blond hair, he was dressed in all black. High-end black. Nice pants, Ferragamo boots and, unless Nick missed his guess, the button down shirt was silk with leather cuffs and collar- not that fake stuff they sold at the Dollar Store where he and his mother bought clothes. As for his coat, the leather was so soft, it didn't even make that crackling sound.**

 **This guy was definitely loaded.**

Kyrian gave a stupidly triumphant smile.

For no damn reason, according to Nick. So what if he held a considerable amount of awe for Kyrian as a 14 year-old? Not his damn fault. Old man didn't have to look so proud himself.

" **Why can't I move my arm?" Nick was starting to panic.**

" **You were shot."**

" **Where?"**

" **Your shoulder."**

 **Before Nick could say another word, he heard his mother's distressed cry. From the side where his vision was blocked, she appeared and wrapped her arms around him.**

" **Oh my God, baby. Are you all right?" She bawled as she saw the bandage on his head and over his eye. "What did they do to you? Why weren't you at home like I told you? Dammit, Nicky, why don't you ever listen to me? Just once in your life!"**

" **It wasn't his fault."**

 **His mother released him instantly. She turned toward the stranger, who was still in the far corner of the room."Who are you and why are you here?"**

"Well, dang. That's some serious suspicion." Amanda blinked. "And here I thought I was the only one."

Kyrian sighed. "At least Cherise never saw my fangs. _That_ wouldn't have gone over well."

 **He held his hand out to her. "Kyrian Hunter. I'm the one who called you."**

 **She shook his hand. There was a stark contrast between her tan secondhand frayed wool coat, cheap white vinyl boots, and the red sequined polyester skirt Nick knew belonged to one of her dancing outfits. His tiny mom was a beautiful woman, but the heavy, overdone stage makeup made her look a lot older than her twenty-eight years and he hated when she teased her blonde hair out for shows. It made her look cheap and his mom was anything but.**

Tabitha tilted her head to the side. If Nick hated the club get up so much as a kid, why on earth did he frequent clubs so much as an adult? Maybe he figured if it wasn't his mother, then it didn't bother him? It was a peculiar kind of hypocrisy, but she didn't think that's what it was. Even now as Nick stood in the back of the room, discomfort was rolling off the man in spades.

" **Thank you for that, Mr. Hunter. Where did you find him again?"**

 **Nick panicked. If Kyrian told her where he was when he'd been shot, she'd shoot him again just for good measure.**

" **He was in the Quarter, trying to protect an old couple from being mugged. They got away and the scum who'd held them up was beating on him when I saw them and stopped it."**

 **Tears glistened in her eyes. "You saved my baby?"**

 **Kyrian nodded.**

 **She sobbed even harder.**

 **Nick felt like total crap. It was a good thing his dad wasn't here. He'd cut his throat for upsetting her like this.**

...They really couldn't wrap their heads around that. Ash, Bathymaas, Styxx, Sin, Zakar, Set, Seth. The mere idea that _Adarian,_ the accumulation of Hatred, Anger, and downright Viciousness, would even _hint_ at any kind of protective instinct was...absurd. Absurd and disorienting.

" **Don't cry, Mom. I'm so sorry I got shot. I should have done what you said and gone home...I'm just so sorry."**

 **She wiped at her cheeks where her makeup was now streaked by the tears. "You didn't do nothing wrong, baby. You're a hero. A wonderful hero and I couldn't be prouder of you."**

 **Nick winced at the lie. He wasn't a hero.** _ **I'm a hoodlum...just like my scum-sucking father.**_

Seth's jaw ticked in annoyance. Nick really needed to stop comparing himself to his father. Seriously, take it from the man who lived in the prison cell next to him. Give or take a few literal meanings.

 **He met Kyrian's gaze and something in his eyes made him think that Kyrian might actually know the truth. If he did, he didn't bust him for it, which only made Nick feel all the worse.**

"Sorry?" Kyrian scratched the back of his head.

"S'alright. If you'd actually said the truth…" Nick shuddered. "I'd probably still be grounded. No drinking at Sanctuary. No driving my Jag. No more fun times at Sav's house. _Misery..._ "

"Oh, yes, we certainly can't have that. No one trashing my home and disturbing my peace? The horror." said Savitar, in tone of voice drier than the Sahara in a drought.

 **His mother drew a ragged breath. "The doctor told me you'd have to stay here for a few days, maybe a week or more. I don't know how we're going to afford-"**

" **Don't worry about it. I'm taking care of the bill."**

 **She narrowed her eyes at Kyrian. "I can't let you do that."**

" **It's all right. Least I can do for him. There aren't many kids his age who'd take a bullet to keep a stranger safe."**

 _That's true._ Tory thought. Through her years of teaching college, she hadn't really seen that kind of altruism present in any of her students. Maybe a few, here or there. But outside of her family and friends? Exceedingly rare. And of all people, it was the Malachai. Now she might not have been in this world as long as some of the other folks present, but…

She was certain that protecting someone, no matter who the person is or what point in time it happened, was important. Always.

 **Still, she looked doubtful.**

 **Kyrian offered her a kind, tight lipped smile. I have the money, Mrs. Gautier." Wow, unlike Peters, he didn't sneer her name. He actually said it like he respected her.**

Kyrian exhaled, Nick's shock at what should be a common courtesy making him feel as if weights were being added to his shoulders. This was...difficult. It wasn't- well, okay, so Kyrian's life is apart of it- but this is Nick's story. What happened and why it happened. And yet, watching it brought up Kyrian's own part in Nick's life, what he didn't do or should have done, and even made him remember a whole slew of things that had nothing to do with the kid.

And it was hard.

" **And no one to spend it on. Trust me. You're not taking a dime from me or my family that'll be missed."**

 **She bit her lip. "That's mighty kind of you. Especially after everything you've done getting him here and all." She took Nick's uninjured hand into hers and squeezed it. "I can't thank you enough for saving my baby, Mr. Hunter. Nicky's all I got in this world. I'd die if anything ever happened to him."**

Ash's jaw clenched at that statement; in a way, that's exactly what happened.

 **Something dark flitted through Kyrian's eyes that reminded Nick of a ghost tormenting him. Some past pain that his words conjured up.**

"That kid is way too perceptive." Kyrian muttered. Had he really been that obvious to others? And here he thought he had an excellent poker face.

Amanda was surprised; how had Nick picked up on that, without being an empath? He really was perceptive...case in point, Amanda hadn't known that in the beginning. At all.

 **Kyrian pulled out his wallet and opened it. "This is my number." He gave his mother a small business card.**

" **If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call me. Any time, day or night. I don't sleep much so don't worry about disturbing me."**

 **She tried to give it back but Kyrian wouldn't allow it.**

" **Look," he said firmly. "I know you don't know me or trust me at all. I don't blame you. But there are people in the world who can give without asking for anything back. I'm one of them."**

 **She shook her head. "And I know how much stuff like this costs. I can't take that kind of money from you or anyone else. Ever."**

Amanda lifted her eye brow. Now that she thought about it, Cherise would have only been in her late twenties when she met Kyrian. And she was quite beautiful…

Amanda gave her husband an arch stare. And stared. And staared. And _staaared_ -

"Um. Sweetheart? Did I do something wrong?"

"Not yet."

 **Kyrian's dark brown gaze went to Nick. "Then let him work it off."**

"Beginning of the end, folks." Savitar scowled at his own statement. "You'd think people would see this train wreck coming."

Nick growled. "Gee, thanks. Let me just go down to the corner store and by an alarm for all things that will ultimately change my life. Right next to the 'You're about to fudge up' clock and 'life do-over button'. I'll give you a review of which one works the best...but honestly? Working for Kyrian wasn't the train wreck- it's what came after."

Kyrian glared at Nick.

"What? What's with the look?" Seriously, what'd he do wrong this time? It wasn't even an insult.

"Twenty years. It took you twenty years to stop complaining about me being a slave driver?"

"Oh no, you were definitely a slave driver. It just wasn't a wreck."

 **Nick sputtered indignantly. "Excuse me?"**

 **They ignored him.**

" **Don't be ridiculous," his mom said. "It'd take him forever to earn this kind of money back."**

 _ **Uh, yeah...**_ **last thing Nick wanted was to be indentured over a doctor bill.**

"Except, you know..." Katra narrowed her eyes. "That's kinda what happened?" she tilted her head back to look at Nick. "Right?"

"...Basically."

 **Kyrian returned his wallet to his pocket. "Then what do you want to do? Have the hospital turn him out into the street before he's fully healed? Wounds like that, he could get gangrene and lose a limb or die." Hopeless despair glistened in her her blue eyes and the sight kicked Nick straight in the gut.**

" **Mrs. Gautier…" A tic worked in Kyrian's jaw. "I know you can't tell it by looking at me, but I've had a hard life. I've lost everyone who was ever important to me and I know what it's like to be kicked hard when you're down. You've got a great kid there. He deserves a chance. Let him work for me, part time, after school for a year, and we'll call it even."**

Amanda threaded her fingers with Kyrian's, proud of him. There weren't that many people in the world who'd give a kid like Nick a chance and a break. There was already volumes of proof lined up that Nick had been kicked to the curb by so many adults he expected nothing more. And every douche in Nick's life made Kyrian appear even better by comparison.

 **She glanced at Nick, who wasn't so sold on this idea. "Doing what?"**

" **Washing my car. Running errands."**

 **His mom scowled. "What kind of errands?"**

" **Yeah," Nick interjected, "I ain't no babysitter or dog walker."**

 **Kyrian rolled his eyes. "I don't have kids or a dog."**

"Oh, how times have changed…" Kyrian smiled, rolling his eyes at his foolish past self. _Just you wait…_

Tabitha tched. "And you stole my dog!"

Kyrian wrinkled his nose. "I did not _steal_ the dog. He just likes me more. I play fetch with him."

"I played fetch!"

Kyrian gave her a bland look. "With shurikan?"

"Voo-doo dolls. I had some anger issues that needed sorting."

"'Had'?" Val questioned in disbelief.

 **He returned his gaze to Nick's mom. "He'd pick up groceries. Some dry cleaning. He can work with my groundskeeper trimming hedges or help my housekeeper clean the outside windows. Nothing dangerous or illegal."**

 **That didn't sound too bad, but Nick already had a job that he liked most days. "What about Ms. Liza, Mom? Who'll help her in her store?"**

 **Kyrian frowned at him. "Liza Dunnigan?"**

" **You know her?" Nick asked in surprise.**

 **Another tight-lipped grin broke over his face. "Yeah. We go way back. And I think she'd understand if you worked for me for a while."**

Urian tapped his finger on his knee. "Is it just me, or does everyone in New Orleans know every one? I've been hanging out in this town for decades, and I am still running into people who have magically known other acquaintances of mine. _For. Years._ It's a conspiracy isn't it? Someone's planning everything, just shoving us into pre-determined boxes on a chessboard!"

Ash and Styxx rubbed their temples before glancing at each other.

"No more T.V?"

"Not for Uri. The government conspiracy theories are rotting his brain."

"Oh, come on!"

Nick rubbed his jaw, thinking over Urian's statement. With Ambrose's meddling, and Laguerre's past machinations..."Well...you're not _wrong_ , per say…"

Urain straightened his back. "Gautier? That is not what I wanted to hear."

"Sucks to be you then."

 **His mother's hand tightened on his. "I don't know...what do you think, Nicky?"**

 **Nick looked at the sling in his arm. There really was no way they could afford this bill. If Kyrian could pay and his mom wouldn't have to suffer…**

" **As long as he's not a pervert and Liza doesn't mind, I can work for him, I guess."**

Sin snorted. "Yeah...you need to work on your interview skills, kid."

Nick seethed. "I was fourteen. So sue me."

 **Kyrian laughed. "I'm not a pervert."**

" **You better not be 'cause I'll quit if you are."**

 **Kyrain shook his head. "So it's settled?"**

 **Indecision played in his mom's gaze before she nodded. "Thank you."**

" **No problem. Now if you two don't mind, I have an appointment I need to keep."**

 **Nick frowned.**

" **This late?" his mom asked suspiciously.**

 **Kyrian nodded. "I do a lot of international business that requires me to work late at night. Like I said, I don't sleep much." And with that, he was gone.**

"Knowing what I do now…" Jo narrowed her eyes on the screen. "I am seriously impressed. International business? Night hours? Who comes up with these lies."

Valerius, Kyrain, Chi and Sin answered her question in tandem. "Ash."

Ash coughed. "Cleverly stated truths, thank you."

 **Now that they were alone, his mom gave him her full attention. "What do you really think?"**

" **I think I'm really glad I'm not dead and you're not killing me over getting shot and being in the hospital, running up bills we can't afford."**

"Once a sarcastic brat, always a sarcastic brat…" Kyrian muttered.

Ash slowly turned to look at him, brow raised. "Takes one to know one, huh?"

Instead of getting irritated, Kyrian laughed. "With my past? I'm surprised he wasn't worse than I was at that age."

 **Her lips trembled. "Baby, how could I be mad at you for something like this? I just wish I made enough money that you didn't have to work too. If you'd been at home-"**

" **Don't, Mom, please." The guilt of it was killing him.**

 **She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his bruised knuckles. "All right sweetie. You just rest. Don't you worry or think about nothing except getting better." She pulled one of her black hair bands from her pocket and slicked her hair back into a sedate ponytail.**

 **Nick smiled, knowing she did that for him so he wouldn't be embarrassed by her over-teased hair. Then she went to the sink to wash off her makeup and pull off the fake glitter eyelashes. She was so much prettier without all that goop on her face that he didn't understand why they made her wear it.**

The woman in the room gave small smiles at Nick's blunt honesty. Truly, he had been a precious child.

 **Once she looked like his mom again, she slid into the bed beside him and held him close.**

 **Normally, he'd be pushing her away 'cause it felt like she was stifling him. But tonight, while he ached and hurt, he was glad to have her hold him close.**

Nick would have been embarrassed if he wasn't imagining what would have happened had he gotton home in time to stop her death. All the powers he supposedly held, all those high-faultin' genetics that technically made him the King of Demons and he couldn't save the one person who mattered.

Ironic. Story of his stupid, damned life.

 **It'd always been just the two of them in this world. Team Fabulous. That's what she'd called them as far back as he could remember. Together they could make it through anything.**

 **She brushed his hair back from his temple and gave him a light kiss there. "You are my little man, Nickyboo. And I'm so grateful I have you. You're the only thing I've ever done right in my entire life and if anything happened to you, they'd have to dig two graves 'cause I couldn't live a single day without my baby beside me."**

Nick swallowed thickly, hearing the words he didn't even know he had needed to hear.

 _It hurts._

 _It hurts, It hurts, it hurts._

It was like someone had chosen to use his chest for target practice. How many times had she said that to him growing up? Enough that he'd lost count. _Damnit, Mom! Why did you want to die?_ For someone who proclaimed she loved him with everything she had, she had no qualms about letting herself- *****

Nick cut off that train of thought and mentally slapped himself.

He. _Would not._ Allow the Malachai in him to taint the relationship he had with his mother.

That was off-limits, to everyone, including himself. Nick knew how much his mother had sacrificed to raise him; life had never been easy for her. It had nothing to do with whether or not his mother wanted to leave him. Nothing.

Or at least, that's what he says to convince himself. Ash could have brought her back-

 _Nope. Not going there._

Nick brushed his hair away from his face, keenly aware of people sneaking sympathetic looks at him. He didn't need their pity.

And he sure as heck didn't want it.

 **Her words almost succeeded in making his eyes tear up, but he was too tough for that. Nothing could make** _ **him**_ **cry. Nothing. "I love you, Mom."**

" **I love you too, baby. Now go to sleep. You need to get better so I can beat your butt for getting hurt."**

 **Smiling at her empty threat, Nick closed his eyes, but couldn't sleep. His mind kept replaying the look on Alan's face as he'd pulled the trigger. The creep had tried to kill him…**

 **And if it was the last thing he did, he was going to get even. As his dad would say, Our blood don't run. Sometimes we want to. Sometimes we ought to. But we don't ever run from anyone or anything.**

Set snorted. _That sounds like him._ As little as he cared about the demon, you couldn't deny the fact all of their ilk were stubborn to their core. It was actually one of the only things he could respect about the demon...except when it was in his way.

Then they had problems.

00000000

Styxx bit his lip, eyes narrowed on the screen. As far as he knew from Acheron's memories, Nick's Dad had nothing to do with raising the boy.

Apparently, they were wrong. He exchanged a glance with his wife, knowing she thought the same thing.

Adarian _had_ influenced Nick, with more than just his crappy genetics. The extent of which no one had actually known...or knows. Even if it was something that was considered normal- such as protecting his mother, not running from a fight-

Nick was obeying his father without hesitation, something the 14 year-old Cajun didn't seem to realize. Or was he merely doing what his father requested because their interests aligned?

Styxx hoped so, or they were in for a world of hurt.

 **Next time he met up with Alan's "crew" they were going to feel the full wrath of Nick Gautier…**

Nick flinched as pain tore through his skull at the words.

 _What the hell just happened?_

His small headache was getting a lot worse...Nick clenched his jaw. _Oh, for the days when I could OD on Tylenol and not worry about supernatural crap..._

Thankfully, the pain wasn't enough to make him collapse. Savitar glanced over at him- not concerned, but certainly suspicious. Mennie was the one who straightened her back and started to turn around.

 _Don't. I'm fine. Keep watching._

Nick sent the thoughts, even though he cursed the effort he had used. Something was seriously wrong, but with Savitar watching his every move, he couldn't use his full powers to figure out _what._

Damnit!

And here they were, wasting time that everyone was running out of, whether they knew it or not.

 **-Chapter 3- -**

 **Nick learned a new lesson in misery as he lay in bed, alone, in the hospital for days on end, bored out of his mind.**

"Really. Because that's the worst thing in the world." Zakar rolled his eyes, wishing things had been that damn easy…

"I was 14. Naive. And terminally stupid." Nick reminded him, as if that explained everything. Which it did, though Zakar had never had the courtesy of being that innocent.

Tory blinked at their conversation, eyeing Nick's teenage self.

Naive, maybe. But his naivete is what the bare-toes considered 'realistic'. And terminally stupid? Hardly. More like impulsive.

 **His mom stayed with him as much as she could, as did Menyara, but they couldn't be here constantly. Kyrian would stop in and visit at night and some of the dancers from his mom's club in the daytime. Still, he spent most of the time by himself.**

 **Scariest part?**

 **School was starting to look good. He shivered in revulsion of that awful thought.**

"Oh, God. We're watching a horror movie." Nick growled at Tabitha's comment. His head was not helping matters.

"My life is not a movie."

"Is now, with it's genre being horror. School looking good? Even with Jock rock Stone?" Tabitha demanded popcorn from Val before anyone could tell her to be quiet and sit down. She had a tradition to uphold, which included throwing popcorn at film characters doing stupid things.

" **Hi...um, Nick, wasn't it?"**

 **He opened his eye to find Nekoda of all people standing in the doorway. With her hair pulled back into a thick ponytail and dressed in a volunteer's uniform, she came deeper into room.**

 **Heat stung his cheeks as she looked at his ragged state of ick. Nick cleared his throat. "Yeah, it's me, but I'd like to think I looked better when we met. 'Cause right now, I'm pretty much hogging all the ugly."**

 **She laughed. "No offense, but yeah, you did look a bit better. But I have to say you really rock the crazy headgear you have going now. Hard to make** _ **that**_ **look good." She winked at him.**

Styxx's nose wrinkled, before his features smoothed out. She wasn't Bethany, and it was irrational to be jealous over something no one had any control over. This all happened...how many years ago? And they were _kids._ He refused to make the mistake of being an irrational, jealous husband...It was just a little irritating.

And confusing. It couldn't be a coincidence that this woman looked like his wife. It couldn't be.

 **He could only imagine how foul he appeared. His head was still wrapped up, his exposed eye bruised and swollen. One shoulder was in a sling to keep it still and the other arm attached to monitors and an IV. He had a faded-out hospital gown that was freckled with the oh-so-manly-looking flower things all over it. Gah, at this point, he'd rather be back in his orange Hawaiian T-shirt.**

Urian whistled. "The mark of a very desperate man." He glanced over at Nick. " _Hawaiian T-Shirts."_

"If that's all you can deal, I have some unfortunate news for you...others have said worse, in _far_ more convincing tones."

" _Hawaiian T-shirts, kid._ "

Savitar glowered. "Find a new tone, or 'Hawaiian T-shirts' will your new wardrobe for the next week." Urian raised his hands in surrender.

 **All he needed to look like a bigger goober was to drool on himself. Which he might do if she kept talking to him.**

 **She stopped next to his bed and glanced over all the monitors that beeped and hummed. "So what happened to you?"**

" **I got shot."**

Marissa chuckled. "How many kids get to say that? 'I got shot', and not because they went to the doctor? It's not really funny, but...kinda amazing."

Tabitha shrugged. "Well, I've gotten shot _at_ by friendly fire. Does that count?"

 **Her brows arched high. "In the eye? Is that why it's covered?"**

" **No. I got hit there with a board, a fist, a foot, and probably a few other things. There's a bunch of stitches above my eye. Doc says the bandage for that can come off tomorrow. I'm sure I'll look even better then." His voice was thick with sarcasm.**

Aeron gave Nick a once over. "Nay. Still a bit of a donkey's ass, even without the damage."

Nick gave Aeron the look of 'Why am I friends with you again?' "Right. Because my cute and fluffy exterior could ever be mistaken for a donkey's ass. Just because you forgot to put on your glasses, doesn't mean you get to insult everything you see. Leave your envy at the door, Legolas."

So much for drawing attention away form Aeron.

"Well...I mean, at least you have a sense of humor about it." Jo stated, trying to see a good side to this...which wasn't much. Seriously, high doses of optimism just didn't seem to be following Nick around.

Nick snorted, eyeing the screen. "Yeah. Just what I'm gonna do. Cry in front of my girl? Because that is just _impressive_."

"She's not your girl yet." Cadegan pointed out.

Nick smirked.

"And," Jo added smiling. "Your girl wouldn't care if you cried, now would she?"

True, but that's not the point.

" **I was clipped in the shoulder."**

" **Oh." She said, calming down as she scowled at his sling. "Did it hurt?"**  
 **He wanted to say no, duh, but his common sense caught his tongue before he insulted her. Even though it still hurt, he straightened up into his tough posture.**

" **Nah. I took it like a man."**

Kyrian chuckled. "Atta boy!"

Amanda hit his arm.

"What?"

"If this Kody girl is going to like him, it's not because he can suffer stupid amounts of pain."

"Actually, she loves my sense of humor!" Nick called from the back. Ash pressed his lips together; Nick hadn't even noticed himself speaking in present tense.

 _Artemis is_ _ **so**_ _not going to like this..._

 **She shook her head at him and didn't comment on his bravado. "So why did you get shot? One of your witticisms gone awry?"**

"Say yes. Please say yes." Urian muttered. _Come on. Do it. Do it!_

 _I wanna see what happens!_

 **Nick wasn't sure how to answer that.**

"Annd you take the high road." Urian grumbled under his breath, feeling cheated.

 **He didn't want to take credit for something he hadn't really done- like saving people he'd help put in harm's way. So he settled on a lesser truth. "Wrong place. Real wrong time."**

Cadegan nodded, impressed. The kids honesty was...surprising. And quite the example; it was something he could respect about the kid.

" **Did you see who shot you?"**

" **No," he lied. He hadn't even told the police who it was even though they'd bugged him several times. Rule one on the street: Narcs don't live long. Besides, he intended to settle this score on his own and the last thing he wanted was for Alan and group to be protected by prison walls when he went for them.**

 **This was going to be between "friends".**

Ash shook his head. Yeah...worse was the little smirk that played out in the edge of the kid's mouth at the word 'friends'. From day one, Nick had plotted revenge.

Bathymaas sighed. So many get sidetracked on this path, trying to number them all was virtually useless. Even the people who didn't actively seek to harm others, but kept the memory of what they did alive in their hearts- it slowly broke them down and destroyed them over time. They focus on that one moment of betrayal or heartache so much, nothing else shines brighter.

It's a poor existence to live.

" **Like they say in the movies and shows, it all happened so fast…"**

 **She fretted over him. "Well, I'm sorry you got shot. It explains why I haven't seen you in school."**

 **His ears perked up at that. She'd been looking for him?** _ **Man, for that news, I'd take a bullet any day.**_ **It was all he could do not to give her a goofy grin.**

"Dude...you are _so_ whipped."

Nick groaned. "Shut up, Urian."

"Look I'm just saying- I've heard that line before, but you weren't the one saying it."

 **She leaned closer. "But I'm happy you lived and that you're okay."**

" **Yeah, me too. It would have really cramped up my future plans had I died…"**

 _You have no idea kid._ No one said anything, but the irony wasn't lost on anyone. And Nick knew they knew, which made things a little uncomfortable.

 **He flashed what he hoped was a charming smile at her then changed the topic. "So you work here?"**

" **Volunteer. Twice a week," she corrected. "I'm told things like this look good on a college application."**

 **Wow, she was worried about that already? It made him feel like a slacker. "We're only in ninth grade."**

 **She shrugged. "Yeah, but every year from now until graduation matters and everything we do affects if and where we get in. So I'm trying to make a difference."**

" **Gah, you sound like my mom."**

Nick groaned. ' _Sound like my Mom?'_ why did he even say that? _Stupid, stupid…_

 _Unnecessary. Completely unnecessary!_

Tory looked over her shoulder to peek at Nick- who was busying ruffling his hair in the universal _I-Am-So-Damn-Stupid_ move.

She giggled. It was actually kind of nice to see the boy act his age.

" **Sorry." She wrinkled her nose up in the most adorable way. He didn't know why, but it made his stomach tighten and heat flood his cheeks-if he kept that up, he'd be able to rent himself out as a light-house at night.**

" **So can I get you something to drink?" she asked. "Some ice? I have magazines and books on my cart if you want something to read."**

" **I'd kill for Nintendo."**

 **She laughed. "No Nintendo on the cart. Sorry."**

" **You got any manga?"**

" **Manga?" She scowled. "What's that?"**

 **Crap. It was too much to hope she'd share some of his more unusual interests. "Japanese comic books. I'm addicted to them."**

"Manga fan?" Urian blinked. "Seriously? Dude...you are such a nerd."

"HEY!" Nick and Ash responded in tandem, before giving raising their brow at the other. Tabitha hijacked the conversation before a fight could start, explaining that manga was, indeed, cool.

Nerd material or not.

"And I happen to like Hellsing." Ash added. ******

Urian screwed up his face. "...Okay then. Hellsing. Blood, gore, and heavily inaccurate vampires. Got it." He tilted his head. "Actually, I could get behind that."

" **No, sorry again. I do have some Batman and Spider-Man if you're interested?"**

" **That'd be great." They were a lot shorter than the manga, but at least it'd eat up a couple of minutes while he read through them. "You got any science fiction or fantasy?"**

" **We have a couple of Dune books."**

" **Now that I could definitely go for."**

Kyrian looked over his shoulder.

And drilled holes into Nick's forehead.

Nick rolled his eyes, insulted. "Bibliophobia doesn't count when I _want_ to read. Or desperate. And bored. Or both. Normally I start reading when it's both, or about to die..." Well, he has been doing a crap load of research lately, so...he reads. On occasion.

When convenient.

 **She smiled. "I'll be right back."**

 **Nick watched as she walked out of the room with a shake to her hips that ought to**

 **be illegal and in some states probably was. She really was beautiful. He didn't know what it was about her hair, but it really made him want to touch it. It just looked so soft and smooth. It probably smelled good too.**

 **Just like her skin.**

Bethany's jaw dropped, followed closely by Amanda and Tabitha. Never let it be forgotten that a boy's 14 year old mind is a treacherous place to enter. Nick blushed, and growled low (Oddly, to a sharp listener, it would have sounded like the strangled whine of a puppy caught doing something wrong) trying to fight off the smirks and chuckles from the men in the room who had been there, done that…

...and refused to spare Nick his dignity.

Effin' bastards.

 _ **What are you thinking? She's so far out of your league…**_

 **Girls like her don't date loser dorks who mugged tourists. She was the kind who went on to date jocks and marry lawyers and surgeons and stuff.**

 **He could just imagine the type of childhood she'd had with maids and tutors and birthday parties with presents wrapped in something other than hand-decorated grocery sacks. Her parents would probably flip out and die if they knew she was even talking to filth like him.**

That burned. More than that, Ash felt like a moron as he realized one of the small, obvious reasons Nick was so damn pissed at him. It wasn't just that he didn't bring Cherise back, or had thrown him into a wall.

Ash really _had_ gone nuclear on Nick when he discovered what he'd done with Simi. Something that was his right as her father, and something he would have done to anyone because of his own issues.

But it wouldn't have looked like that to Nick. After everything was said and done, even with their friendship, Ash had treated Nick the same way everyone else used to when he was a kid.

Like trash.

" **Here you go." She returned and handed him a stack of books and comic books.**

 **Nick smiled. "Bless you."**

" **Any time." She stepped back from the bed. "Well, I better get going. I still have to make my rounds and visit other patients. I promised Mrs. O'Malley that I'd play rummy with her today."**

 **Wow, that was really sweet of her. "Okay. Thanks so much for stopping in and for the books."**

 **She inclined her head to him. "Take care."**

" **You too."**

 **Then she was gone. Nick sighed as depression set in. He hated that he was stuck here, but most of all he hated that he'd never be worthy of a girlfriend like Nekoda. He could bluster and pretend all he wanted to. It wouldn't change anything. She'd still go home to her nice house and he'd have to crawl back to the gutter where he'd been born.**

 **Trying not to dwell on things he couldn't change, he opened a book and started reading.**

Marissa frowned, her heart hurting at Nick's depressing beliefs. She never really knew guys thought like that. Maybe she knew, but it never really made an impression. Of course they had those thoughts, why wouldn't they? But it was hard to see the other end sometimes. It made her wonder if her daddy and Uncle Ash were the same- or if Nick's pessimism was strictly his own.

'Cause it'd be really sad if that was true. All of them were really nice to her, and were really great people. For them to think they weren't worthy of something, even if it was small...she didn't care for the idea. And from what she's seen and heard from her parents, Uncle Nick deserves a lot more than just a little bit of happiness.

 **Nick sighed and shifted, then jerked awake as he felt like he was falling out of bed.** **He blinked open his eye to find himself still in the hospital, alone.**

 **Gah, this sucked. Wishing he'd slept longer than two hours, he reached for his tray to get another book and froze. There was a small box that hadn't been there before.**

 **He frowned, reaching for it, then opened it up. Inside was a pink Nintendo and a small note.**

 _ **Sorry about the color. Pink's my thing. But I hope this'll keep you from going crazy so that you won't have to kill anyone. I figure I can do without it for a few days if it'll spare your sanity.**_

 _ **Get better soon,**_

 _ **Kody.**_

Ash 'hmmed' at the note, reading in-between the lines to see what Kody was actually saying...which was shorthand for 'To keep you from going Malachai, here is a gaming console to distract you'...or maybe that was just Ash overthinking things.

 **He stared at the note as a wave of emotion overwhelmed him. It was the nicest thing anyone had done for him. The box was filled with games for it, from classics to strategy to shooters.**

 **What an incredibly nice thing for her to do. It really touched him.**

He was right. It really was a nice thing to do- which made Bathymaas suspicious. She may not have been awake for very long, but her son and husband had schooled her on the entertainment of virtual games, and how conquering Atlantis in the virtual realm was a consistent go-to therapy method for her husband.

She had not been entirely pleased with that discovery, but given what the Atlanteans had done to him...sometimes she watched over his shoulder and suggested battle strategies.

Bottom line being something was off with handing a stranger this kind of device, decked out with various games.

 **Picking it up, he held the system in his hand. For some reason, it made him feel weirdly close to her. Systems were personal. They were an extension of yourself. From the color to the stickers...it all came from within and it was something that you kept close to you. Something you guarded and protected.**

 **And she'd loaned him hers.**

 **Not many people would do that. Especially not someone as hot as Kody. The girl was crazy.**

 _ **Maybe she likes you.**_

"Aww. How cute."

Amanda smiled at Urian's statement, although she felt bad with everyone constantly poking fun at Nick. It really _was_ cute- and adorable. But if Nick had liked this girl Kody so much, why hadn't she ever heard of her?

And what happened to her?

 **That thought made his blood race like fire through his veins. Could it be possible?**

 _ **She's dangerous to you. Avoid her.**_

The room stilled at Ambrose's voice, as the implications of what he just said swept through the room.

Ambrose _had_ gone back in time.

The screen paused as Set stood from his position of loafing on a couch.

"Well, that's game, folks. We all know that's Ambrose. No need to-"

" _Papas."_

Set looked over at his daughter, who hadn't moved an inch from her spot on the floor.

"Oh, for the love of Ra…" He cursed in a few choice languages, bolstering his argument for why he did not play well with others.

She shook her head, before glancing at her aunt. "Ma'at wants to show us something. And I don't believe we've seen it yet. Ambrose is under suspicion because we believe there to be evidence. We've seen some of it. But it's only one line. It doesn't show us anything other than someone who sounds exactly like Ambrose has been influencing Ambrose's past self. Damning, I agree, but I refuse to end judgement until I hold all the facts." She'd made that mistake before with her own husband, and she refused to do it to another. And her aunt had been so adamant...no, there was more to this.

But why would her doppelganger be dangerous to Nick?

Menyara sighed at her brother. Impulsive as always.

 **He scowled at the deep, scary voice in his head. It sounded almost demonic.**

 **WTH?**

Sin shook his head. "Anyone else still laughing at the irony?" Urian, Ash, Zakar, Set, and Cadegan raised their hands, Seth and Thorn just snorted.

Ambrose? Demonic voice? Noooo.

"Well, at least he isn't stupid." Katra pointed out.

" **I am going crazy from boredom." Only a lunatic would want to avoid a girl as nice and pretty as Kody.**

"Gee, thanks…" Nick growled, his bad mood thickening the already tense atmosphere. Not that he needed to be offended; he wasn't fully Ambrose. But seriously, he had dissed his future self for basically trying to steer him away from his future assassin. Ambrose had failed miserably, but hey. A for effort.

" **Did he take it?"**

 **Nekoda tensed as she felt the air around her stirring. The power was palpable and it was one she was intimately familiar with.**

 **Sraosha. Her guide and mentor.**

 **Nekoda locked the door of the storeroom to keep anyone else in the hospital from innocently coming in and seeing Sraosha's form. Tall and graceful, he was so beautiful that it was hard to look straight at him. His powers were so great that they manifested as an ever-moving aura that illuminated her skin with a bright yellow glow. His long blond hair flowed around his shoulders as he narrowed his gaze on her…a gaze that held no eyes. Only a smoky black cavity that was as frightening as it was peculiar.**

"Of course." Thorn grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Cadegan furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

Thorn gestured at the Sraosha on-screen. "See him? Asshole. Not exactly fond of us demonic types, you know. Which is fine by me, seeing as I wouldn't mind dumping him in the nearest vat of oil. _Prick._ Basically, one of the counselors at Camp psycho-heaven. They keep the peace, time, and order. All that fun stuff- except when they don't and get themselves embroiled in civil war." Thorn muttered that last bit under his breath, before raising his voice back up. "Just watch. Trouble's his middle name."

"Aye." Aeron agreed, with a really sour look on his face. Jo and Cadegan glanced at each other and shrugged.

" **I left it for him." she whispered. Nick had no idea that her Nintendo allowed her to keep an eye on him so long as he was around it.**

"Wait, what?" Nick gaped at the screen, realizing Kody had definitely forgotton to mention a couple of pertinent details.

The group looked over at him. "You...didn't know that?" Lydia asked, hesitantly.

Nick's face flushed red as he remembered where, exactly, he had left that Game Boy whenever he changed clothes in the morning and evening.

"No. No, I did not. She failed to mention it." Tabitha narrowed her eyes on him, grin slowly spreading across her face.

"You totally left that out in the open when you changed, didn't you?"

Nick glared at her.

"You did! Oh, my God! Your girlfriend definitely-"

"Shut up, Tabby! No one asked you! And how do you know that's what she'd use it for? She seems like a good kid." Amanda hit her sister in the stomach in a valiant attempt to save Nick from anymore embarrassment. Not that it was doing much.

"'Cause that's what I would do-"

"Not everyone's like you, Tabby-"

Val looked at the ceiling, being forced to contemplate his wife's new product idea for her shop...because that's exactly where this would lead; she's terribly pragmatic that way. If she wasn't already selling something similar. Wait, this was his wife. Of course she was.

"Oi. Children!" Savitar reprimanded from the back. They stopped their bickering.

 **Sraosha nodded. "What do you think of this one?"**

 **He was younger than the other Malachai's she'd fought. More innocent. Sweet even.**

Wait. Other Malachai's? That _she_ had fought? Ash grimaced as a very ugly picture started to form in his mind.

"Um...Sweet? Innocent? Are we talking about the same Gautier?" Urian raised a brow. "'Cause. I don't think we're on the same page."

 _ **Don't let him seduce you.**_

 **That was the last thing she could afford to have happen.**

"Wow. And she's worried about Nick seducing her? He hasn't even done anything." Urian commented, waving at the screen. Sin growled.

"Do you just have this need to speak up about every little thing? Why can't you just...oh, be quiet?"

"Oh, come on! You can't tell me you would pass up-"

Sav cut in. "How about we all shut up and talk less?"

" **He seems…" She had to choose her word carefully. "Different."**

" **Do you think he's the one?"**

" **I don't know." Since the dawn of time, they'd hunted for the right Malachai. The one who could turn against the dark forces that had sired it and fight with them against the Source so that she could free her brothers.**

Ash frowned. He'd thought that was a myth- a legend. If it was actually true, and Nick really was that Malachai- which would explain….a lot, then either they were in luck or seriously damned.

And with the way things were shaping up, Ash would lay money on screwed blue and tattooed. Mildly speaking.

 **But to date, they had lost every Malachai they'd tried to** **save. The darkness within each one was more than they could resist. And who could blame them?**

 **All of their bloodline was born to cause pain. Born to wield the darkest powers imaginable. Just as Nekoda had been born to the light.**

Sin held up his hand as if to stop the proceedings. "Alright. So. _Save_ the Malachai? I know that's the plan _now_ , but I don't remember this being a consistent thing." Sin looked at Ash.

"Did you?"

No, he hadn't, but Ash was hard pressed to admit it. "Nope. But I'm starting to think I should have." Also, as one of the Arelim, it would make sense that Kody was born from one of the light. But who exactly? Now that Ash could see the blatant resemblance between Bethany and Kody-

Ash's train of thought was derailed by an errant, ludicrous thought.

 _No. No way._ Nick's luck couldn't be _that_ freakin' terrible.

 **Nick was still a kid who had no idea who and what he was. But she knew exactly the kind of violence he'd been bred for.**

 **And he terrified her.**

Seth's face crumpled in discomfort, sobering as- although not entirely bad- memories rose to the surface. He couldn't claim that any day with his wife was bad- even when it could be frustrating, irritating, or just downright obnoxious- but never bad. No, the 'bad' memories had their own little storage space in his mind where he kept them under lock and key in it's own little cordoned off section in his head.

But knowing that Lydia, the only woman he loves, had once feared him with good reason...even now, it leaves a taste of bile in his mouth. Being feared by the only person you've ever loved was no small matter. Ever. And if you deserved it, there's really no saving you. He didn't envy Nick for that, and it was clear with the vibes the cajun sent all over the room whenever Kody appeared that although he was tied up with Artemis…

Only one woman had ever held his heart.

" **Menyara swears we can save him."**

 **Sraosha scoffed. "She's to close to this one. She's blind to what he really is."**

Menyara raised a brow. "Excuse me? I find myself insulted."

That aside, Bethany was worried about something else. "Auntie does he mean by 'this one'...?" Menyara smiled and patted her arm.

"We'll get to that, child."

 **Perhaps that was true, but Nekoda had no such attachment to him. "Have no fear. I'm not blind to him. His glamour doesn't charm me."**

Tabitha snorted. "Oh, honey, you are so charmed by him, you passed up Caleb. _Caleb_." Val frowned. "Caleb? Should I know…?"

Tabitha shook her head. "You wouldn't know him- and don't worry, he's not an ex. Just a high school buddy of Nick's."

Aeron and Thorn snorted from the back.

Kyrian looked at the two of them, piecing things together.

"So...he wasn't a highschool student."

Nick cleared his throat. "Actually, he was. Got his diploma and everything" - _Far as I can tell-_ "including suffering math and english classes with me. And detention. And don't get me started on his rendition of Moby Dick. So yeah, maybe not human, and older than the general populous, but he does get the 'I survived High School' badge."

"Good to know."

" **Make sure you don't fall victim to it. Remember that's only one of the many powers he'll possess. Powers that will work on all mortals and immortals alike. As you've seen, evil is already beginning to tempt him and that will only worsen as he matures."**

Jo tilted her head as that sank in. With the other's bickering, it was hard to pay attention to but…

"So, Glamour means you can charm people right?" Sensing the question was directed at him, Nick nodded.

"So you can charm anyone you want? How does that work?"

Nick couldn't see where this was going.

"I...don't know? It's not really a power I use...or used. Actually, it was kind of a hindrance as a kid 'cause I couldn't control it." And for all his attempts to tone down the jealous-boyfriend vibe, Kody could go from 'Why am I dating you again?' to 'He's mine, back off bitch!' in two seconds flat. That power was definitely the root cause of some stellar Casey vs Kody cat fights.

 **Nekoda swallowed as she saw in her mind the events that led up to his getting shot. "He pulled back before hurting them."**

" **This time. But that single act of drifting toward violence against another has unleashed his Cimmerian Magus. The dark powers are uniting now to train him. Can't you feel it?"**

 _How the hell…?_ Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. As far as he knew, Nick's transition into his Malachai powers took place as an adult. But if his powers came in when he was still a child...then it would explain the funky powers he had sensed from Nick as a kid. It also proved one more thing-

Acheron, apparently, didn't know a thing about the Cajun. If he didn't know this one basic fact, which was supposedly broadcasted to the entire world- exactly what information did he have about Nick that was accurate? Obviously the time sequence was a part of these issues, but this was ridiculous.

 **Yes. It permeated everything here and it sent a feral chill down her spine. There were ten lessons that had to be taught to every Malachai. Every one of them would make him stronger.**

 **More corrupt.**

 **It would shape him into a tool of evil that would come for her and her people and wreak absolute misery on everyone who came into contact with him.**

 **The first lesson was necromancy. But not just communication with the dead. Reanimation and control.**

Kyrian and Tabitha looked at each other as that information sunk in.

"The zombies were _your_ fault?"

Nick gave a mockingly hurt expression at Tabitha's accusation.

"What? You mean all that work I did to send them back into oblivion was just practice for world domination? NO! Of course they weren't my fault! How many times have we teased Maduag over this?"

"No offense? That was before I learned about this." Tabitha waved up to the screen. "It may not be your fault, but you definitely have a part to do with it."

"That, I never denied."

Jo let out a frustrated breath. "Can someone explain to me the deal with the zombies?!"

Nick and Tabitha responded in tandem."You'll see."

 **No matter how hard Nekoda tried, she couldn't see Nick becoming like the others. Surely he wouldn't embrace such a cold power.**

 _ **You made the mistake of that thought before.**_

 **She winced as she remembered his father and how wrong she'd been then. Had she struck when she'd been told to, she would have saved countless lives.**

 _ **It's the light inside you that wants to believe in the goodness of other people. Even the Malachais.**_ **She'd shown the elder Malachai mercy and he'd spat in her face and embraced his own brand of evil.**

Nick curled his lip.

 _Asshole._

His father, a piece of work that should have been chucked back into the Source's face.

 **No matter what, she wouldn't be so stupid again.**

" **Have no fear, Sraosha. I've learned from my mistake. This time, I won't fail. If we can't turn him, I will kill him."**

" **You better remember that. Because this one is even stronger than his father and now he's being embraced and trained by the Dark-Hunters. If we don't turn him, he will be the one who finally destroys us all."**

 **And she would be the one to blame for the death of humanity.**

One moment Nick was tolerating his throbbing headache even without the Tylenol, and the next he was on the floor, writhing in pain. As if someone split his skull open with a mallet…and then decided to tase him in the same spot. Not fun, and seriously detrimental to his health. He had felt his headache worsening, but hoped it was a migraine, as bad as those could be. Not this.

Again.

"Boyo?" Aeron was at his side in an instant, gripping his shoulder to keep him semi-upright. Nick didn't acknowledge it- images were flashing in his head, spiraling faster and faster. His old memories being replaced- he couldn't even remember what had been there seconds before- with the new ones taking their place in his mind.

"Boyo? Nick? Are you here? _Do you ken_?"

Nick breathed heavily, trying to focus his blurry sight on some spot on the marble floor. He needed to get a grip. To stand. He was a causing a scene-

 _Something's draining the Malachai out of him._

 _I warned you! This time, I will rip out your worthless-_

 _Aeron never made it to the room-_

 _Like what? You're scaring me._

 _I'm not Simi. I'm her daughter-_

 _It doesn't show the future-_

 _ **Cyprian.**_

Nick barely registered Aeron and Kyrian helping him up, or the crowd of people that hovered around him, with Ash asking him if he was alright. He just stared at the far wall, blinking.

 _I have a son._

 _A daughter._

A daughter that apparently resembles Caleb.

And a son who wants him dead. That had been one of Nick's small fears growing up, but had tossed it to the wind once he became a Dark-Hunter. He couldn't impregnate, so why worry about it? Unless being a Malachai with a cursed line somehow exempted him from that DH Universal Law. Nick met Menyara's eyes as she listened to the ether, her face betraying her horror. No one else had noticed. _Yet._ They didn't know how damned screwed they all were. Nick felt his insanity bubble up, breaking to the surface.

He laughed. Hysterically.

Ash, Styxx, Urian, Chi, Sin, and Zakar took a step back, while they rest of them looked at him with surprised looks and agape jaws.

They had no fucking clue.

Except Aeron, who had been there, but wouldn't notice the timeline changing. Wouldn't even realize his memories were now different than five seconds prior. Thorn would know, maybe. About his son and his own memories suddenly being rewritten. Then again, maybe not.

"O...Kay. Nick? Kid? Back to reality. We don't really have time for you to be snapping a bracket and taking off." Savitar clapped him on the shoulder before jerking his hand back as if burned.

Nick saw his stony expression and started up another round of 'let's go insane' laughter joint. "You saw it, right? How damned dead we all are? Oh, man, I can't wait until they figure it out-"

Nick crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Kyrian caught him. "Who the hell-" The Greek looked around to find Set with an outstretched arm.

The egyptian god shrugged.

"What? No rule against knocking him out."

 **0000000000000**

 *** In Time Untime, Nick mentions that his mother wanted to die, or at least wanted death to claim her. So even though that sentence might be harsh, it's part of how Nick views things. In case any of y'all were wondering.**

 ****No, seriously, I think in an interview Hellsing was listed as one of Ash's preferred Manga's. Or maybe it was 's Mrs. Kenyon's preferred list. Eh. I think it works.**

 **I hope you guys weren't disappointed. And I repeat: I am not dropping any of my fics.**

 **I hope you have an awesome day! -RS**

 **P.S**

 **I know there were tons of spelling/editing mistakes I missed. I'M SORRY!**

 **P.S.S Please review!**


	4. Chapter 3 point 1

**First and foremost: WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT ME CONTINUING THIS STORY. I AM NOT STOPPING. The problem is when I get sent to a location without internet for long periods of time, compounded by lack of free time to write. But I have my laptop now, with decently reliable internet connection...trust me, if you think _you're_ dying, my brother's tapping his foot with severe displeasure at my absence. So at the current moment, I'm more likely to die here, not you.**

 **Seriously.**

 **I hope y'all love him, 'cause he's your loyal defender and constantly poking at me to hurry the hell up.**

 **I don't have the chapter finished yet, but I feel like crap for leaving you all hanging out to dry for so damn long, so here's a little snippet. I. WILL. BE. UPDATING...even if it takes me a bit. Also, I couldn't post a message to you guys without adding in some of the story, 'cause apparently fan-fiction has a thing against Author Note's as a stand alone chapter. Who knew?**

 **darksnowangelcat: ...Sorry. You have no idea how crappy I feel for not being able to update. In my defense, it hasn't been an _entire_ year since I've last updated. Just August.**

 **Yeah, I know: Laaaame.**

 **My bro: Don't worry. My plan is proceeding, however slowly.**

 **And as we all know, Mrs. Kenyon owns this entire rodeo, which is how it's supposed to be.**

 **00000000000000000000**

"Do we continue without him?" Ash asked Savitar. The Chthonian had flashed Nick to the room the punk had borrowed when Nick had stayed with Sav for two annoying ass years.

"For now. Alright folks. Back to your seats. Nothing to see here!" Savitar shooed them away.

The group dissipated, casting concerned glances at the closed hallway doors, the direction where they assumed Nick would be resting.

"Are you sure one of us shouldn't stay with him?" Kyrian questioned, still hesitant to leave the Cajun alone. That hadn't been normal Nick behavior. Hell, Kyrian and never seen Nick flat-out collapse like that before, for seemingly no reason. There'd been no warning, or time to prepare.

Then to start laughing like a maniac…? Kyrian didn't want to believe it, but maybe Nick wasn't doing as well as he'd hoped.

Ash patted him on the shoulder. "Nick's a tough kid. He'll be alright. And he knows his way around- he did hang out here for a couple of years."

"And whose fault be that?" Aeron stated, casting an irritated glance at Ash.

Why on Earth was the Celt angry with him?

Was it 'Let's Hate On Acheron Day'?

 _Geez._

"Mine, for good reason."

"Ach, sure. Let's drop boyo off on a moving island no one can locate without previously knowing the location of or being invited to, thus making sure no one can find him. Feckin' brilliant!"

O-kay...someone had some pent-up anger issues.

Which begged the question of _why_.

"That was the general idea. I take that you're angry about it...but why would that concern you?" Aeron bared his teeth.

"Because Nick is me friend you bloody ingrate, and can you imagine what hell you raised when we found Cherise dead and the boy gone?"

…

...

"Wait." Ash held up his hands, sifting through his memories. If Aeron was telling the truth, then at what point did Nick and Aeron become friends? Why hadn't Ash run into him, with all the time he spent in New Orleans?

And why had Nick failed to mention this?

"Nick never told me about you being friends."

Aeron gave him a look that said he was questioning the Atlantean''s intelligence. Ash himself was a few steps shy of punching the Celt in the face, family of Cadegan or not.

"If you hadn't noticed, there's a bit much Nick hasn't told you."

That stung.

But Ash had dealt with worse revelations than this. Aeron turned away from him and faced Savitar.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to have a friend of me own keep a watch on Nick."

Sav gave him a arch stare. "What? Don't trust me?"

Aeron shook his head. "It's not about trusting you." They stared at each other before Savitar snapped his fingers.

"One ticket only. And if your 'friend' does anything that could remotely piss me off, you're the first person whose guts I'm using to decorate my wall. They also don't leave that room. Once Nick wakes up, they're outta here." Aeron nodded in agreement.

"Noted."

Everyone went back to their seats, with unanswered questions spinning in their head.

 **000000000000**

 **A/N Sorry it's so damn short; I'ma write more, I promise. I'm not dead, I will be updating. On that note, enjoy the upcoming holidays! (But did you hear that the next CON book was pushed back to next September? NOOO!)**

 **Y'all rock my socks, and thank you to everyone who continues to read and review even when I'm absent. You seriously make my day.**

 **-RS**

 **P.S Forgive my spelling. I'll spell check as I re-read.**


	5. Chapter 4

**So.**

 **Um.**

 **Yeah.**

 **Finally stopped being a ball of anxiety and posted the damn chapter.**

 **(Don't hate me. Please?) I know it's been nearly a year (More than a year?) , and I should have had this shit up _months_ ago, but life happened, and then I got writers block. Truth is, I've been sitting on this chapter for awhile, and it was mostly written when said writer's block came. So if you're disappointed about certain things, it's only because I had already written certain parts before I released the previous snippet of this chapter. I apologize in advance?  
**

 **Shadow: I updated! :D I'm really glad you like this story! (Really...really glad.)  
**

 **Darksnowangelcat : Truth be told, I was only irritated for like five seconds, since that was actually another kick in the ass I needed to try to do something, and then I had my bro who was kind of backing your sentiment, so yeah. Forgiven completely: your impatience was warranted. Sorry for not responding? If I made you feel like crap, that's on me.**

 **Guest-who-has-been-leaving-little-notes-in-the-reviews: I don't know if you're all the same being, (I think you are? Maybe?) but thanks. Seriously. It's nice to get a review every now and then as encouragement.**

 **Delirium0629 : Only a couple months left till Intensity, and I know, last chapter was stupid short. This one is around 18 ,000 words, so forgive me?**

 **CedaD : Sorry for being radio silent for so long- I haven't even updated JoCM, but that's next on my list. Thanks for being so understanding; I really appreciate it.  
**

 **BlackGryphon101: Your sarcasm is applauded, in case you didn't know, and yeah, there's a reason for Simi's attitude. Also, stop being psychic. :D**

 **For everyone else who reviewed , you all made my day. I had to kinnda go through Hell Week times a thousand this past year, so every message you've given me makes me smile. Again, sorry if the chapter wasn't up to what you were expecting. I'll do better.**

 **Also: Y'all better keep my brother in your hearts: That bastard was hovering over me during my vacation time as I typed. What hell, bro? :D And then tried to sneak a look at the chapter early before I posted it. I hadn't even edited it yet! Love you, bro. But you gotta share. Serious, my brother's your Virtulent Fanfic Defender. Or something.**

 **Y'all rock! If you see spelling mistakes (There will be tons, I promise. Wanted to get this up for you guys.) Tell me, and I'll do another edit.**

 **Mrs. Kenyon owns AAAALL OF THIIIIIIISSSS! I DON'T OWN A DAMN DIME OF IT!**

 **P.S INTENSITY COMES OUT IN A COUPLE MONTHS! AND DID YOU GUYS HEAR ABOUT THE NEXT SERIES?! I'm not sure what to feel about it. But if Caleb and Nick are in it, shit's bound to be good. -RS  
**

 **000000000**

"Do we continue without him?" Ash asked Savitar. The Chthonian had flashed Nick to the room the punk had borrowed when Nick had stayed with Sav for two annoying ass years.

"For now. Alright folks. Back to your seats. Nothing to see here!" Savitar shooed them away.

The group dissipated, casting concerned glances at the closed hallway doors, the direction where they assumed Nick would be resting.

"Are you sure one of us shouldn't stay with him?" Kyrian questioned, still hesitant to leave the Cajun alone. That hadn't been normal Nick behavior. Hell, Kyrian and never seen Nick flat-out collapse like that before, for seemingly no reason. There'd been no warning, or time to prepare.

Then to start laughing like a maniac…? Kyrian didn't want to believe it, but maybe Nick wasn't doing as well as he'd hoped.

Ash patted him on the shoulder. "Nick's a tough kid. He'll be alright. And he knows his way around- he did hang out here for a couple of years."

"And whose fault be that?" Aeron stated, casting an irritated glance at Ash.

Why on Earth was the Celt angry with _him_?

Was it 'Let's Hate On Acheron Day'?

 _Geez._

"Mine, for good reason."

"Ach, sure. Let's drop boyo off on a moving island no one can locate without previously knowing the location of _or_ being invited, thus making sure no one can find him. Feckin' brilliant!"

 _O-kay..._ someone had some pent-up anger issues.

Which begged the question of _why._

"That was the general idea. I take that you're angry about it...but why would that concern _you?_ " Aeron bared his teeth.

"Because Nick is me friend you bloody ingrate, and can you imagine what hell you raised when we found Cherise dead and the boy gone?"

…

...

"Wait." Ash held up his hand, sifting through his memories. If Aeron was telling the truth, then at what point did Nick and Aeron become friends? Why hadn't Ash run into him, with all the time he spent in New Orleans?

And why had Nick failed to mention this?

"Nick never told me about you being friends."

Aeron gave him a look that said he was questioning the Atlantean''s intelligence. Ash himself was a few steps shy of punching the Celt in the face, family of Cadegan or not.

"If you hadn't noticed, there's a bit much Nick hasn't told you."

That stung.

But Ash had dealt with worse revelations than this. Aeron turned away from him and faced Savitar.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to have a friend of me own keep a watch on Nick."

Sav gave him a arch stare. "What? Don't trust me?"

Aeron shook his head. "It's not about trusting you." They stared at each other before Savitar snapped his fingers.

"One ticket only. And if your 'friend' does anything that could remotely piss me off, you're the first person whose guts I'm using to decorate my wall. They also don't leave that room. Once Nick wakes up, they're outta here." Aeron nodded in agreement.

"Noted."

Everyone went back to their seats, with unanswered questions spinning in their head.

 **0000000000000**

" **Welcome home, Nicky!"**

 **Nick opened his eyes to find himself in their crappy living room with Aunt Menyara standing in front of him, holding an actual chocolate store-bought chocolate cake with the same happy words written on it that she'd just uttered. He was stunned by the small crowd around her who shouted her words at him.**

 **Wow…**

Nick's face was one of complete surprise and gratitude. Almost like he'd never been to a party before-Marissa paused as she followed that train of thought. Nick had gone to parties before- he must have. And not like the ones from that weird dancer place, but with friends from school, and the like. She hoped.

 **Petite like his mother, Menyara had smooth chocolate-brown skin that glowed in the flickering candlelight. Her sisterlocks were held back from her beautiful face by a wide yellow scarf she'd tied around her head that trailed down her back, just past her hair. The yellow was mirrored in her peasant blouse that was tucked into a bright orange skirt that fell all the way to her ankles.**

Menyara smiled at Nick's description of her, which was incredibly flattering and sweet. Things had been rocky between them- Nick discovering what she had done to his Grandfather had shaken him up, even more than when he'd come into his powers. It was nice to remember the boy she'd helped raise- the small things that made her have faith in the man he was becoming. After so many centuries of living, everyone looked like children to her.

 **Skinny silver bangles lined both of her arms and they jingled as she angled the cake for him to see her beautiful handwriting. "It's your favorite,** _ **cher**_ **. We're so glad you're home."**

 **Nick blushed as his gaze went from her to the rest of the dancers who worked with his mom who'd come over for his party. Even John and Greg, two of the bouncers from the club, were here.**

 **They were clapping and smiling at him, making him extremely uncomfortable with the attention as they congratulated him on being a hero.**

 **Funny, he felt more like a fraud.**

Marissa rubbed at her chest where a pit had formed, making the screen difficult to watch. For some reason, she felt incredibly embarrassed on Nick's behalf. Sure, she never did anything to that extent but...the entire situation just left the taste of bile in her mouth. How could he stand the guilt of being rewarded when he felt he should be punished?

 **Menyara put the cake down on the counter for him.**

" **C'mon, cher, and blow out the candles before they ruin your beautiful cake."**

 **He always loved the lilt of Menyara's Creole accent whenever she spoke. A voodoo priestess and midwife, Aunt Mennie, as he called her, was also his godmother and his mother's best friend.**

 **She'd been the one who'd brought him into this world and who'd taken his mom in after her parents had tossed her out. When he'd been too young to go to the club with his mom, Mennie had been the one who kept him. For that alone, he'd do anything in the world for her.**

Bethany smiled, even as a jab of pain hit her heart.

She had missed so much. Even though she tried to tone down her dislike of Apollymi, but the woman had caused her to lose so much time- so many memories that she should have, things she should have known- and the fact her aunt had such a close relation to the Malachai of all people? Bethany had missed it, entirely. Even now, with her Aunt sitting next to her, it was obvious the woman cared about him, as much as her own child. Sarosha was right- Ma'at _was_ close to him.

Maybe more than Menyara herself intended. But for that kind of loyalty, from a creature who should have none- Bethany couldn't blame her.

" **Thanks. Everyone." he muttered as he went to the cake and blew out the candles.**

 **His mom stood behind him with her hand on his uninjured shoulder. "We're all so proud of you, baby."**

" **That's right." Greg, a huge bear of a man with long brown hair and pockmarked skin. Stepped forward to hand him a box. "We took up a collection for you at the club. Hope you like it."**

 **Their kindness touched him. It felt more like a birthday than a return home from the hospital.**

Looked like it, too. Streamers, cake, and music? Hallmark birthday celebration, right here. Hell, if that's what a return form the hospital looked like, Urian almost wished he could land in one without someone calling the cops on him. (The fangs would make some poor nurse go into cardiac arrest. Now if he wound up in Sanctuary, on the other hand...Nah, his parents would scream in horror, not throw him a party for surviving. And then Mom would attempt to put him on lock down in Katoteros and Dad would try to mitigate the situation but do a shitty job because he secretly agrees, and just...No. In fact, that would be a terrible idea.) *****

 **Ripping the box open, he found a Street Fighter video game and a T-Shirt that said: NICK GAUTIER. SUPERHERO OF THE DAY.**

Sin snorted. "Seriously? Please tell me Nick never wore that. Because that's just embarrassing."

Menyara shook her head. "No. He could never bring himself to wear it." Mostly from his deep sense of guilt.

 **Nick didn't have the heart to tell them that he didn't have a gaming system here. Any more than he could tell them that he hadn't been a hero. He'd only been trying to make something right that he'd let go terribly wrong.**

Styxx sighed, knowing that he'd said the exact same thing on more than one occasion.

For a moment, he felt incredibly old as memories assailed him. Even now, he couldn't believe how everything had gone from just peachy to Nightmare-Level-Destruction. He had been on his way to marrying the woman of his life, his son months away from being born, had then-

Nothing.

Trapped.

Everyone gone.

Styxx opened his mouth to get get more air in. Somehow, he had let everything go from semi-okay to catastrophe, and even having his heart and son back couldn't fully erase the feeling that he should have _known-_ done something different. If he had just done something different-

Bethany leaned into his side, brushing a hand through his hair. Her quiet voice drowned out his thoughts.

 _Sometimes, my heart...it's best to remember that regardless of_ _ **Then**_ _, we made it to_ _ **Now.**_

 _And that makes all the difference._

Styxx came back from the downward spiral of his thoughts, blinking his eyes in shock. Had he really just…? He hadn't had that kind of attack in a while, and never in a public place. He normally waited until he was alone to go, as Urian would put it, 'Bat-shit-crazy'; and since the reappearance of his wife and knowledge that Urian was his son, they'd decreased dramatically. Styxx turned back to the screen, incredibly wary. Had he known he would react to Nick's memories like this…

It wasn't even an actual traumatic moment- like Nick having the shit beat out of him. The trigger had just been something he empathized with.

And that, he realized, was a major issue.

" **Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate it."**

 **Tiffany stepped around Greg and pulled an envelope out of the box. "You forgot this."**

 **Nick handed the box to his Mom before he took the envelope, but since his left arm was still in a sling, he couldn't open it.**

" **Here, child." Menyara took it and opened it for him.**

 **He gaped as he saw five twenty-dollar bills in her hand. "What's that for?"**

 **Tiffany smiled. "Your college fund. We know it's not much, but it'll cover most of the days of work you missed while you were in the hospital."**

 **He looked at his mom, who was smiling in gratitude. But he didn't feel grateful. He felt weird about it, especially knowing how hard all of them worked for it. "I can't take this."**

Never let it be said that humility was an unworthy trait.

But Jo got it. The most she'd ever came to having someone else help her out with Money problems was guilting Selena or one of her other cousins into buying her ice-cream. Even now, with her and Cadegan financially stable, taking money she didn't earn herself was...weird. She didn't like it, and she couldn't pay the other person fast enough. Not paying off a debt was like holding onto bad ju-ju that needed to be gone ASAP.

 **John snorted. "Take it. Don't make me have to whup your butt and put you back in the hospital, snot-wad. Just be grateful for it and don't ever spend it on drugs or cheap women 'cause I know what I'd have done with it at your age and we're all raising you to be better than that."**

You could see the men and the woman on screen- their slightly cheap clothing, a little worn down and faded from all the washes, the bags under their eyes that weren't noticeable if you weren't looking.

But they were grinning at him with hope- and pride.

A village. That's what Tory, Amanda, Bethany and the others saw. A village trying to raise a child out of whatever gutter they lived in. Amanda had never seen the majority of these people- Tabitha might have- but these were the ones who shaped Nick's early childhood. _These_ people, right here, were Nick's roots.

She had always assumed Sanctuary had been that village, but she only knew one side of the coin.

 **Nick didn't know what to say. "Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it."**

He looked so lost. Mennie couldn't help but chuckle. Nick did appear grateful, but not entirely sure what to do with the sentiment. Seeing his reaction a second time around, she could understand his discomfort. Help wasn't something the boy had been ever used to receiving, unless it came from Cherise or herself. And even then, he was so incredibly stubborn...only the need to be polite overcame his discomfort at accepting things he felt he did not earn.

 **Then someone turned up the music to play Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" and the party started even though it was hard to move in their small condo. Then again, the dancers were so used to being up on the thin catwalk in the club so they did what they did best and made his face so red with their dance moves that he was sure it glowed neon.**

"Gah!" Marissa covered her eyes, beat red. Amanda growled. Spacing the fact Nick wasn't present, she yelled at him.

"Damn it, Nick! You said there wasn't anymore nudity!"

"Technically, he was right. They're not naked. Just dancing." Kyrian pointed out, eyes glued to the ceiling with interest. Amanda turned her ire on him.

"You, shush! And you better not be looking!" Kyrian slid his gaze over with a smirk.

"Why look when I can see what I want later tonight?"

Amanda hit him, which only made Kyrian laugh hysterically.

"Damn." Zakar lifted and eyebrow. "If this is what a return from getting the stuffing beat out of you is supposed to be like, I have been seriously jipped." Urian shrugged, while Sin rolled his eyes at his twin, before smirking. "That's what clubs are for, brother mine-"

Katra Gibb-slapped him.

 **Nick took the money to his jar they kept under the kitchen sink and dropped the twenties inside while his mom and Menyara cut the cake and handed out slices to everyone.**

" **You okay, child?"**

 **He nodded as Menyara handed him his cake and a plastic fork. "Just tired."**

 **There was something in her gaze that made him wonder if she could read his mind. It was eerie.**

" 'Little did he know'- Urian started, shaking his head, "She was."

Menyara sighed at her nephew. "Child, Nick was constantly walking into danger back then. Any trick I had that could keep him safe I used. And trust me, you would to. Not that I could shut off my powers like a light switch. That's a tad more difficult than people make it out to be."

Urian scoffed.

" **Your mom told me that you'll be working for a man named Kyrian Hunter. Is that so?"**

" **Yeah. I gotta pay him back for the hospital bills."**

" **Then I want you to watch yourself, Nicholas. This man he's…"**

 **When she didn't finish the sentence, he finished for her. "Evil?"**

Kyrian rolled his eyes fondly. Figures Nick would cast him as some evil villain. What was he expecting from the 14 year old?

Not like he'd been anything but respectful...Than again, can't blame the kid for keeping suspicions close to his heart.

 **She laughed and brushed her hand through his hair. "No, not evil. But working for him will change you, I think. Hopefully for the better. I just wanted to say that you should be very careful with what you learn from others and who you let into your life."**

 **Her emotionless tone gave him pause. Mennie knew things, lots of things, before they happened. Her clairvoyance was unrivaled.**

Bethany tilted her head. "So...he knew about your powers, but not that you were a goddess?" Bethany figured from Nick's introduction of Menyara his information about certain subjects was limited, but by how much she didn't know. Menyara nodded.

"I couldn't tell him then- but by being a voodoo priestess, he could know about my powers and give me enough leverage to convince him to heed my warnings. It was all I needed."

Bethany nodded, seeing the wisdom in that. Her aunt couldn't exactly tell a devout catholic she was a goddess right off the bat, at any rate.

That was just asking for trouble.

" **Is that your wicked psychic powers talking again?"**

" **Maybe it's my wicked overprotective ways." She kissed him on the brow. "You be a good boy for me Nicholas. Always."**

" **Yeah, okay." he wasn't intending to be a bad one, since the last time he'd done that hadn't gone well for him. As it was, his shoulder was on fire and he had months of painful therapy ahead to get his arm to work right again.**

 _ **Believe me, I'm done with this.**_ **Next time he saw Alan and group, they were the ones who were going to be limping.** ' _ **Cause I'm gonna put my foot so far up their butts they're going to be burping shoe leather.**_

Seth furrowed a brow at the screen. "I am...quite sure that action would be the complete opposite of being 'done with this'." Lydia patted his side, her laughter like music to him.

"He's 14, Seth. Being done with something means punching it first."

"Trust me, I know. Been there. But he's being very contrary on the issue." Indecisiveness, something that hadn't been present in Adarian. The differences kept throwing him for a loop.

 **Or in the case of Nick's cheap shoes, man-made material, whatever** _**that**_ **was.**

 **He frowned as she stepped away to join his mom and Tiffany. There was something cold in the air that made his neck tingle.**

The audience frowned, watching as Nick cast an uneasy glance around his house on-screen. Once again, his dormant powers were called into question.

 **Dismissing it,-**

Tabitha threw her popcorn at the screen. "Dang it all, Cajun! What part of every horror movie beginning did you not pay attention to?!"

Urian flashed near her and started throwing MnM's at the screen. "Ditto."

 **he ate his cake then joined the others, who kept playing old seventies songs.** _ **Gah, could we please move the music forward to the correct decade? What is it with old people and their music?**_

Ash blinked. "I resent that." Old? Yes. Bad taste in music? Hell no.

 _My Chemical Romance_ would play throughout the ages as long as he lived.

 **Well, at least it wasn't disco.**

 _Agreed._ Ash nodded his head, happy that there was one thing kid-Nick and him still had in common, before catching Tory's chiding glance. If it wasn't for the corner of her mouth being upturned, he'd think he was actually in trouble.

 **The party didn't last too long, since his mom was afraid of making him too tired.**

Kyrian shook his head. Nick? Lack of energy? Had the woman met her son? When he got going, it was as if someone handed him a bag of candy and told him to go to town on it. And having had to put NJ and Marissa down to sleep after the Halloween treats had been handed out, he could say with certainty Nick had been worse on occasion.

 **One by one they left until it was just him, his mom, and Mennie.**

 **At his mom's urging, Nick headed to his bed while they cleaned up. He was on the verge of falling asleep when his mom disturbed him.**

" **You ready to go back to school tomorrow?"**

 **Hardly. He'd really like a few more decades before he had to go back and face the mutant idiots….**

"Don't blame him." Tabitha shrugged. Anything to do with school bored her immensely, and just reminded of people who were no longer present. The ones that had made school bearable. And the fact they weren't there anymore, while some of those assholes she went to school with were alive and kicking…

Yeah, it pissed her off.

 **But he didn't tell her that.** _ **Man up, Nick, and take it.**_ " **I guess so."**

" **Okay, but if you don't feel like it, let me know. You're still healing and I don't want you to do anything to stress yourself."**

 **Yeah, but he was already so far behind he wasn't sure if there was a shovel big enough to dig his way out of his back work. Any more days and he'd have to repeat a year.**

 _ **Kill me first.**_

"That bad, huh?" Sin tapped his fingers against his thigh. "Do we have to send Mia to school? Like, ever?" Because he was hard pressed to admit it, but Nick's ordeal in school was starting to worry him. He'd never been hung up on the idea of school before hand, but now?

It was enough for him to seriously consider allowing his daughter to look at a school campus, let alone attend one. "Because I'm definitely liking the home-school idea." Katra gave him a look that pretty much said 'Really, now?' before shrugging. Even if she didn't say it out loud, Mia attending a 'normal' school wasn't something that appealed to her either. Why let her baby go when she could stay with her parents, Where she was safe? But if Mia wanted to someday go to college, they'd have to compromise.

Katra wisely kept that information from Sin.

 **She brushed the hair back from his forehead before she tested his brow for a fever. "Mr. Hunter said that he'd have a car waiting to pick you up after school and take you to his house. He promised me that it was just an introduction for you and that he wouldn't make you do anything too hard. You okay with that?"**

 **He reverted to his standard answer. "I guess so."**

 **She rolled her eyes. "All right then. I'll let you get your rest. You let me know if you need anything. Oh, and I had to put those flowers your friends Bubba and Mark sent to you in the hospital out on the front porch. They didn't really fit in the house. Leave it to them to overdo it."**

"...Who?" Tori asked, now confused. She'd never heard of them.

Tabitha started laughing hysterically, gaining everyone's attention. She waved her hand.

"Only the greatest Zombie hunters known to man. Don't worry, you'll love them. Man, I haven't been by in forever...should do that later. Anyway, most everyone in New Orleans knows them, and if you don't, you'll learn."

Jo raised a brow, having lived in and around New Orleans her entire life and _never_ having heard of this man before. "You sure about that?"

"Positive."

Seth and Lydia shared a glance before shrugging, content to find out as the story progressed.

But the rest of the group were brimming with their curiosity.

Thus far, the majority of people being shown on-screen were people whose stories they _knew._ The more people that Nick knew and they didn't...made it seem like they were watching a stranger's life.

In a way, they were.

 **00000000000000**

Nick cracked his eyes open, then immediately regretted his decision. Not only was his skull pounding, but the light in the room made his headache infinitely worse. He hissed, clenched his teeth, and forced himself to sit up. He recognized the room from his last, unplanned stay, but that was the the extent of brain functions. He had to wait, breathing slowly, for the pain to subside so he could figure out what happened. Where they- he- stood now.

Nick had gotten a blast from the past.

Collapsed.

Aeron and Kyrian had been there, trying to help him up.

 _ **He. Had. Kids.**_

 _Plur._

Laguerre and Grim were having fun messing with his teen-self's gang.

The Eye of Ananke had screwed with his head, so why the hell did Ambrose tell him to fetch it? It didn't make any sense...

Dagon and Nashira were now MIA, but Zavid's back.

Nick breathed out a sigh of relief.

He'd liked the Aamon, and had been disappointed when his past self let Zavid be sacrificed and kidnapped. It was good to have him back. But now Dagon and Nash were missing, and that couldn't bode well…

"Hey. You up yet?" Nick jerked to find another person in his room- someone he didn't recognize. He lunged, but nearly fell out of the bed.

"Wow, hey!" The woman, who had made herself comfortable on top of the desk in the room, danced away yelling obscenities. "Ach! If this is how you treat your caretakers, no wonder Aeron sent me own instead! Do I look like I know anything about nursing the ill? Nae! I am not a woman, for feck's sake!" The woman then kicked the wall with a frustration centuries old.

Nick slowly blinked, as her- his- identity coming back to him in snippets.

"...Vawn?" She -he- brightened considerably. He winked at Nick, striking a pose.

"The one and only! Aeron asked Sav if he could have me check-in on you. Otherwise I'd still be hitting an invisible wall, or getting skewered. The Chthonian can be a might testy with those who try to break into his domain…"

"How long have I been out?" Nick swung his legs over the side of the bed to get up.

Vawn shrugged. "A couple minutes or so. Speedy recovery, I might say. With Aeron's screeching, I'da thought you died." Vawn tilted his head. "I heard something be said about Bubba and Mark outside."

Nick sighed. Of course they wouldn't have stopped and waited for him. Now Nick doesn't know what was said or what was watched without him; even missing a few minutes could be crucial later.

"Then I better get out there."

"Wait." Nick paused from leaving the room, to look back at the banshee. Vawn's eyes narrowed. "It's getting worse, isn't it?" Nick opened his mouth to say 'None of your damn business', but stopped, as it kind of _was_ the banshee's business. Anyone who knew the truth of him were damned to ride this screwed up trainwreck with front row seats.

Straight to hell.

So instead of being a complete asshole, he nodded.

Vawn gave another careless shrug, and if the matter didn't concern him. "Since me time's been up for awhile, I'll leave you to it before me brain matter's sharing wall space with the hangings. Stay sane." Vawn gave him another glance before looking away.

"Don't make me call him."

It was a good thing Vawn disappeared in a useless puff of theatrical smoke immediately after, since Nick's anger spiked from 0 to over 9000 in 0.3 nano seconds. Of course, he did not, under _any_ circumstances grab a nearby vase with his telekinesis and throw it at the empty air Vawn had previously occupied. Nor did he growl as if severely insulted.

That would be _highly_ immature.

And would probably cement everyone's opinion's of him that he was dangerously unstable. He did not need a fucking babysitter every time he had an attack. He wasn't a fucking invalid.

He took a deep breath to rein in his ire; that anger was killer. And really, was it something to be that pissed off about?

Oh, wait, that's right: Emotions don't have brains. _Get out of my head, Ash._

Sighing at the inevitably off going back outside- to face _people_ \- he dragged himself to a standing position and trailed out the door, hoping whatever he'd missed hadn't been important in the long run.

000000000

 **That was one way of saying it. Bubba had practically sent him a tree, with one little note.**

 **Hospitals wig me out unless I'm the one being tended. Sorry we're not**

 **there, kid. Get well soon. Remember, next time...Double-tap.**

 **Bubba and Mark.**

 **Nick watched as she left and then closed his "door". Rubbing his sore eye, he ignored her talking with Menyara until he heard his name mentioned.**

" **You think this will mess up his growth, Mennie?"**

 **Menyara laughed. "No, chere. Your boy's going to be a fine, tall man one day. I promise you."**

" **I don't know. My dad was awfully short. Barely five foot four. I know Nick's taller than that now, but I'm scared to death he's going to stop growing and be a munchkin like me."**

" **That's cause you Cajuns, child. You're supposed to be short. Be weird if you weren't. But Adarian's a tall, handsome man and his boy's going to be just like him in looks. Trust me."**

Nick scowled as he opened the door quietly, not really paying attention to the pairs of eyes lingering on his form. He knew they wanted to ask what the hell happened, but he couldn't tell them. Not now, not then. He'd already worsened this entire situation. And now knowing that he wasn't the only one to be blamed for messing with the timeline…

It's not him they're looking for, the one they want to punish and judge for screwing with everything.

 _It's his son._

Pushing that thought aside since he had no way to tabulate how _insane_ it all sounded, he just focused on the screen...and a scene he remembered a little to clearly. Mostly because he always hated anyone bringing up how much like Adarian he looked, and-

Well. Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if he'd been born with more of his mother's facial features- or her hair. Not that he especially dislikes his looks- he's hotter than a fireball, according to the women he used to date- but.

It'd be nice not to be compared to a psychopath every now and then.

 _Like father, like son_...he was really sick of hearing that.

 **The words made Nick's blood run cold.**

 **Adarian Malachai was his father and he was a monster.**

The bluntness of that statement caught them all off-guard, when really, it shouldn't have. It hadn't been a secret Nick had disliked his father before his transition to being a Dark-Hunter, and even now, it was more apparent as to _why._ But Nick had never verbally told any of them what he thought about said father, other than he was a general asshole and deserved to rot in prison. But _this?_ This made a lot more sense.

What was more was the slight, almost non-existent, undertone of fear in Nick's voice. It pissed Kyrian off to an unholy level, and reminded him of the one and only time he'd met Nick's-

Kyrian stopped and his heart caught in his throat.

 _The hospital…_

Nick's father had shown up in the hospital, where Nick had been injured and unable to move from the bed.

Chills ran down his spine as he realized Nick must have known why Adarian had been there. Nick had known, Ash had been there, Kyrian had been there, _my Gods_ , Kyrian had stood up to Nick's father, the _Malachai_ -

How close had Adarian come to killing Nick.

How was it that he had never made that connection, before?

Adarian was right, Kyrian had absolutely _no fucking idea_ what he had stepped into. But he couldn't bring himself to care. Kyrian protected his squire, a kid who he almost considered a son, and a boy who would grow up to be one of his closest friends.

He had known Adarian had been up to no good, but never had he imagined Adarian had been there to _kill_ Nick. And Cherise- she'd gone on to the verbally attack the man.

Adarian had been there to _kill_ Nick, and Kyrian had been right there, hadn't even known-

"Sweet heart? Are you okay?" Amanda was looking at him worryingly, her eyes giving him the tell-tale signs of her prodding at him, trying to figure out what was wrong without breaching his privacy. When she found what she was looking for, she slapped a hand over her mouth to choke on her gasp. Marissa looked between them, confused, and she wasn't the only one. Tabitha could feel the assault of realization- the panicked confusion, but Kyrian seemed to be keeping the reason to himself, tightly locked, only sharing with Amanda.

Ash looked over at them, and with the look with a man who had just realized the tantamount of a moment years after it had passed, Kyrian sent Ash only a couple of thoughts.

 _The hospital. Nick's father._

Ash blinked, before stilling.

That movement alone told Kyrian Ash hadn't thought about that night in years, and what it had actually meant if's Nick's powers had come in early.

What Adarian would have done to him had Acheron not stepped in, because Kyrian now knew that Adarian would have _torn him apart_ had he actually consented to Kyrian's challenge.

What Adarian had probably been doing to Nick before Kyrian stepped into the room...

When Ash's eyes crinkled as if he was about to puke, Kyrian could share the sentiment.

 **The mere mention of his name conjured up an image of a giant, hulking beast of a man in prison threads, covered in heavy tattoos. Nick had never seen the man when he hadn't been snarling at everyone around him and shoving people who got near him- including Nick's mom.**

 **Angry, bitter, and rude, his father was a rare piece of work and he was glad his mother hadn't married him and given Nick his last name. Even though his Gautier grandparents didn't want anything to do with them, he still preferred having their name to Adarian's.**

 **Malachai. Heck, he didn't even like the way it sounded. Bleh.**

Trying to ground himself over the previous, horrid revelation, Ash rubbed his hand over his mouth, cursing the three bitches we've all hated at one point in our lives.

 _Five. Seconds._

No, three. _Three_ seconds to ask Nick what his father's last name was. But no; Ash knew that was a sore subject with Nick, and given he had some daddy issues himself, Ash hadn't mind avoiding the subject like the plague unless Nick brought it up.

Now thinking he should have.

 **Nick raised his voice to speak so that they'd hear him. "I'd rather be short, fat, and ugly than take after that man."**

 **His mother sighed. "That man is your father and you're supposed to be asleep, young man. Not listening in on our private conversation."**

Now _that_ caught _everyone_ off guard.

They all knew Cherise had held a beautiful soul, if not by personal experience than word of mouth. But defending the man that they knew had ultimately hurt her? That was more than they felt Adarian deserved and it almost...gave the three of them family-like normality. An oddly shaped and definitely distorted normality, but It was something any mother would say to her son about their father, the man who contributed to their existence.

Having it refer to Adarian, however, was really scrambling their brain cells. Especially Seth, who not for the life of him could imagine Adarian in any familial setting.

At all.

 **What did she expect when all that separated them was a thin blue blanket? "And you're not supposed to be talking about me where I can hear it. You always told me that was rude."**

 **They laughed.**

" **Go to sleep, Nick."**

 _ **Go to sleep, Nick,**_ **he mouthed, mocking an order that was easier said than done.**

They chuckled at Nick's teenage attitude.

Not that it had changed much…

Nick's eye twitched, as if hearing unpleasant thoughts.

 **Especially since his pain meds wore off and his shoulder was throbbing like fire again. But he didn't want to take any stuff made him too groggy and ill feeling. He'd rather hurt than be a zombie.**

Odd how Nick was instinctively inclined to avoid pain meds. Most people would have taken the numbness in a heartbeat- or at least, that's what Bethany thought. Or maybe that was just the normal human reaction of 'I don't like this, get it away'.

After all, it was common knowledge medication and alcohol messed with their powers- and for a Malachai, it was akin to posting a neon sign that says 'Come at me, bro.'...

Perhaps Bethany should get Tory to teach her the modern common tongue instead of her son...

 **Besides, if he acted like a zombie, Bubba might mistake him for a hallucination and shoot him.**

 _ **Rule One, boy: Shoot first then ask questions.**_

 _ **Rule Two: Double tap just for good measure. Better safe than sorry.**_

Sin nodded his head. "Sounds appropriate. I like this man's attitude."

Tabitha snickered. "You'll like his Bazooka better."

"A...Bazooka. And where, exactly, does this man get his weapons?" Sin frowned. "He's not a Dark-Hunter. Can't have that many open channels."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Given the crap he and Mark would get into...they might as well have been." Of course, given the information he just acquired from his oh-so-wonderful migraine, 'Dark-Hunter' wouldn't be Bubba's correct title.

Nick was still trying to wrap his head around that particular nugget- although much easier to swallow than the fact he has a _son._

Who wants him _dead._

In the _worst_ way possible.

 _Stop thinking in 3...2…_

 _There we go._

 **Nick smiled at Bubba's laws until he looked up at their stained ceiling and wondered just how miserable tomorrow would be at school.**

 **Blinking back the agony, he pulled Nekoda's Nintendo out of his front pocket. He didn't know why, but just touching it made him feel better. Like he had someone in the world watching out for him.**

 **How stupid was that?**

Once more they were stunned by the Cajun's eerie perceptiveness.

"Just out of curiosity. Exactly who many times do you think the words 'I should have known' when you're watching this?" Styxx asked Nick politely, angling his head towards the man.

The Malachai groaned, dragging his hand down his face.

"We haven't even scratched the top of barrel. Let's go with 'a shit ton' and call it a day."

 **He turned it on and kept the sound off. His mom had no idea he had this. She'd probably flip out if she did and he couldn't really play it with only one hand anyway. Still, he liked the thought of having it. It made him feel special. Like he was connected to someone not related to him.**

 **Like a girl might actually like him as something more than just a friend.**

 **He wanted the courage to ask her to go and just have a beignet with him after school.**

This, perhaps, was another point in which they realized how different 'Nick' and 'Ambrose' were. The Nick _they_ knew had been a player- or at least, someone who changed girlfriends as often as his clothes. But this Nick, this child- he knew nothing of that lifestyle. Ab-so-lute-ly _nothing_. The idea of which wasn't even on his radar. This kid just hoped that someday he would make it out of the friend-zone; to have a relationship with someone that extended beyond doing school work together.

And that was perhaps the sweetest thing for them to see.

A sincere, adorable crush from a boy they knew would grow to be one of the most dangerous demons of all time.

Talk about contradictions…

 **But so far he hadn't been able to do much more than thank her for checking on him while he'd been in the hospital- Which she'd done every time she had a shift. He'd look forward to each and every one of those visits like a starving beggar getting his one meal a day.**

Styxx quirked an amused smile at the screen, knowing Nick's words to be an apt description. How many times had he counted the minutes until he could slip away and to see Bet? How many seconds had he dreaded keeping track of when he knew he had to leave?

To many and few to count- except he had.

Even now, the habit of periodically checking in with where he left off with his count had not broken- except now, he mostly focused on the second he held both his son and wife in his arms for the first time, and every moment since.

 **It was hard, man, to get up the courage to ask her something so personal. He didn't want to be rejected and he knew better than to reach for the stars-which was what she was. A bright, perfect star who made him laugh whenever she came near.**

Urian turned around and mouthed, "You are crushing _so hard_ I almost feel bad for you."

Amanda shushed him. "It's sweet!"

Nick sighed. "Not helping, Manda."

 **And he was a loser.**

Unlike his first statement of being a mandork, this didn't elicit any laughs. The more Nick used self-deprecating comments as a fact and not a joke, the less funny it became.

 _ **Don't put yourself out there unless you want to get shot down.**_ **He'd been taken down enough by his classmates; he wasn't about to give Kody the chance to kick his teeth in. At this point, he was lucky she'd even talked to him in the hospital. No doubt tomorrow she'd be just like all the other cool, rich kids and pretend he was invisible.**

Marissa rubbed at her chest, feeling a stinging pain. She didn't think she was rich- but compared to Nick she was, and it made her question whether or not she was one of those 'cool, rich kids'. She didn't want to be- or at least, not in the way Nick described them.

She wanted to be someone like Brynna and Kody, who cared about the ones the others passed by. Then again, Kody could still be evil, so she'd stick with being like Brynna and Cherise.

 **Rolling his eyes at his own stupidity for even considering the thought of asking her out, he shut down the nintendo and put it back in his pocket. Tomorrow he'd have to face the demon principal and the cretins of his school. To do that, he needed rest.**

 **And maybe a flamethrower or two.**

"Definitely seconding the flamethrower idea." Tabitha muttered, waving for Val to refill the popcorn bowl. Which he did, with only mild irritation. He really needed to stop questioning his wife's eating habits.

"It certainly would have made high school more than entertaining." Tory agreed.

"No, thank you. High School was traumatizing enough." Amanda said, trying to bury the memories.

"The 'demon principal' isn't foreshadowing, is it?" Val asked, munching on his own popcorn bowl. (Tabitha tended to eat/throw hers within minutes.)

Nick shrugged. "Why ruin the story? You'll find out anyway." Valerius scowled, but reveled in the fact he'd been having one-sentence conversations with the Cajun that hadn't ended in a fist fight or prank of some kind.

He counted it as a minor victory, but a victory nonetheless.

 **Nick was finishing leftover cake he'd eaten for breakfast when a knock at the door startled him. Since his mom and all of her friends except Menyara worked until dawn, he wasn't used to early morning visitors.**

"Huh." Nick murmured.

"What up?" Asked Jo, who was starting to get used to the Malachai's broodiness.

"No, I just...realized I've always been on a graveyard shift schedule. And never really got off it. Nearly everyone I know works at night."

Not really the biggest realization, but odd to think the night schedule had _always_ been his norm.

Some things never change...and it's usually the small things.

 **His mom went to open the door. In this neighborhood, he expected it to be cops wanting to know about something that'd happened while they slept.**

 **What was there shocked him to the core of his being.**

 **It was Brynna Addams dressed in a pretty blue dress and cream sweater. With her dark hair held back from her face by a thin lacy headband, she looked like an absolute angel. One that didn't belong in the run-down crap hole that was their house.**

"You know, you gotta admit." Jo started, waving licorice around like a flimsy Judge's mallet. "Young teenage Nick never dices his compliments. Like, ever. If you're cute, he says so. If you're handsome, he'll allude to it with every descriptive noun in the book without _actually saying_ it." Jo gnawed on her licorice rope before giving Nick a thumbs-up. "I approve this positivity!"

Nick just crinkled his nose in annoyance.

"Hmm." Tabitha smiled. "Kinnda makes you curious, doesn't it?"

Valerius sighed, knowing he had to take the bait. "About what?"

His wife smirked. "How teenage Nick's going to describe us."

Nick blushed hard, and promised himself that when the scene with Tabitha comes up, he'll conveniently need to go the restroom- wait, no, that'd look even worse!

 _Gah!_

" **Hi, Mrs. Gautier. I'm Brynna- the friend of Nick's from school who's been leaving his assignments at the hospital desk. Since it's his first day back and all, my brother and I wanted to give him a ride...if that's okay with you?"**

 **His mother opened and closed her mouth as if she was as stunned by their offer as he was. Turning around, she met his startled gaze. "You know a Brynna?"**

 **Heat exploded across his face, partly because he was embarrassed by their shabby house when he was sure Brynna had never seen anything so run-down in her life and partly because his mother had a weird look on her face that he didn't quite understand while she stood barely dressed in an open doorway. "Um, yeah."**

"Man, do you impress us with your vocabulary."

" _Urian…"_ Now his Dad was getting on his case. Was it wrong to just feel this integral, instinctive need to make the Cajun's life difficult? He could feel it to the core of his bones.

' _Ambrose needs netteling.'_ Like a neon sign. And he was never one to question his assholenish, so why start now?

" **You want them to take you to school?"**

" **I guess so." His stock answer any time he was unsure of something.**

 **He picked up his backpack up from the floor but before he could shrug it over his uninjured shoulder, Brynna took it from him.**

" **Let me carry it. You're still healing."**

 **Nick tightened his grip as he pulled it back. "No, thanks. I'm not having a girl carry my stuff. Wouldn't be right." And it would make him look like a mega wimp.**

Tabitha let out a breathy laugh. "Man, kid. You are too much."

Nick frowned. "Of what?"

Tabitha gestured to the screen. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. The gentleman routine! The comments! The innocence! You can see a Ladies' man in the making!"

Irritated, Nick chose to ignore that comment. For now.

 **He could tell Brynna wanted to argue, but with a nod, she stepped back and let go of his patched and shoddy secondhand bag.**

 **His mom moved forward to turn down the collar of the oh-so lovely Hawaiian shirt he wore- at least this one wasn't so foul it glowed in the dark.**

Kyrian snorted. "I'd like to remind everyone that shirt is the only reason Nick's still living."

Nick rolled his eyes. "I'd like to remind everyone that if you want to be the laughingstock of the supernatural world, go ahead. Wear it….unless you're Savitar." Nick eyed the surfer with suspicion. "No one laughs at _you._ "

Savitar gave him a droll look. "Maybe because a Chthonian whose pastime is roasting the entrails of his enemies over burning bridges is more intimidating that a snot-nosed kid. Just a thought."

" **You have a good day, baby."**

 **Yeah...She should have just burped him while she was at it. Anything to shoot down his manhood.**

Amanda turned to look at Nick. "Really?"

"I. Was. Fourteen. How many times will I have to repeat myself?"

 **Without a word, he gave her a quick hug since his dignity had already been shattered, then followed Brynna outside to where her brother waited for them in a new black Lexus SUV.**

 **He let out a low whistle of appreciation. It was an obscenely nice ride. "You know, a car like that in this neighborhood- people gonna think you're both drug dealers."**

 **Brynna laughed as she opened the door to the front seat and stepped back. Nick ignored her invitation to sit up front and opened the back door.**

" **You don't want to be in the front seat?"**

 _Heck no_! Then again...Nick scratched the back of his head. Given a do-over chance, laughable because pushing the do-over button one time to many is what landed him in this position, he'd go ahead and sit up front with Tad and take the misunderstanding.

Better than the embarrassment of sitting next to Casey.

 _Ugk._

 **He climbed into the backseat and shut the door before he answered. "No offense, I don't know your brother and I don't want anyone thinking anything funny about us. I'm not even sure why you guys are here. How did you know where I live?"**

Marissa tried hard to understand what Nick was talking about before finally giving up. "I don't get it, Ma. How does sitting next to Tad go to them maybe-dating? That, like...makes to sense." Tabitha leaned forward to catch her Niece's eye.

"Subtext, sweetheart. _Subtext._ Everyone loves reading between the lines. Where do you think rumors come from?"

"But that's so dumb!"

"It's Subte-" A couple random MnM's flew into Tabitha's face.

"Stop teaching my daughter how you view the world. I swear…" Amanda rolled her eyes. "And from what I've seen, going by subtext, Nick would wind up dating _my_ _husband_."

You know those various moments in life where you just say what's on your mind without that lovely thing in your head called a filter, and you regret it immensely within the next split second?

Yeah, that's kind of what Amanda was feeling right about now.

"Ah, HECK NO!" Was Nick's immediate and vocal reaction. "Uh-uh. Nope. Never. You could not pay me enough."

Kyrian had a look of...constipation? On his face. "Ah...No. Definitely not. That would...No. Let's...No. He's like my son, or irritating little brother."

Tabitha chuckled, remembering some stellar moment's in her relationship with Nick. "Yeah, and if we're going by subtext, he'd be dating Caleb."

Kyrian gave a thoughtful tilt of his head, before spouting the first thing that came to mind- once again proving the Hunter/Deveraux family were _stellar_ conversationalists.

"Or Ash."

Kyrian winced at the dark cloud of vengeance being built by their favorite demon in the back, vowing to keep his mouth shut next time.

That effectively killed the conversation, but Tory gave her husband a contemplative look. Ash shook his head in extreme discomfort.

No, No, No absolutely _not_ , in _any_ universe.

 _That we know of?_ Tory pointed out, Logical as always. Ash buried his face in her neck, suddenly nauseas. And what does his loyal, beautiful, lovely wife do?

Laughs at him.

 _I don't like you right now._

She giggled.

 _No, you Love me!_

 **Brynna buckled herself in, next to her brother. "Kyrian told us. He's the one who had me drop your homework off while you were in the hospital so you wouldn't fall too far behind."**

 **He froze. "Do what?"**

It was almost comical to see the tinges of fear and shock play around Nick's eyes as he fully registered that his new boss had friends in...well, _everywhere._

As amusing as that was, Nick fearing him had ended about a week of him being Kyrian's squire, which made seeing it again...a little disarming. Kyrian frowned. "...Did I creep you out?"

"No. What gave you that idea? The fact some guy who was my new boss asked one of the few girls who treated me like a sentient being to take my homework to the hospital, and somehow commandeered me a ride to school? With wicked powers of persuasion I'da done anything to have? Nope. Not creepy at all…"

"Thanks, kid. Way to layer the sarcasm."

"Yeah, well, I don't pull my punches."

" **Kyrian Hunter?" She said. "Your new boss? He's an old family friend of ours and you'll see us around at his place from time to time. He asked if we could take you to school and watch out for you, so here we are. This is my brother, Tad, by the way. Tad, say hi to Nick."**

" **Hi." Tad pulled away from the curb.**

 **Nick finished buckling his seat belt as he glanced back and forth between Brynna, who was turned around in her seat to look at him, and her brother, who ignored them while he navigated morning traffic. Dang, Tad favored her a great deal. He was just taller and hairier.**

 **Brynna's eyes sparkled with warmth but for all that, she wasn't anywhere near as spectacular to him as Kody was. Brynna was pretty. Kody was sizzling.**

Nick kept his face blank, despite the desperate urge to throttle his past self. But he reasoned that wouldn't help matters, especially since...it was the truth. Kody was hotter than hell, and having been to various hells, He could definitely say Kody bested them all on the hotness scale. He just didn't want his honest-to-God feelings broadcasted live.

And the more honest he was, the more people are going to start asking questions he doesn't want to answer.

 _Like where she went._

" **You're really going to like working for Kyrian. He's a great guy."**

" **If you say so."**

"Well, that was the most disbelieving tone of voice I've ever heard." Sin muttered. You could hear what wasn't being said: ' _I really don't believe you', 'Someone with this much power is trouble. Hands down', 'Lemme take a rain check on that thought'._

 **She smiled. "So how's your shoulder feeling?" You excited to be going back to school? Is your Physical therapy hard? Did you get all the assignments done that I left for you? The math was really hard, but if you need a tutor, we can arrange one for you until you catch up."**

 **Nick felt assaulted by her barrage of rapidly fired questions and comments. She didn't even give him a chance to respond until the very end. "You always this chatty in the morning?"**

 **Tad burst out laughing.**

 **Brynna slapped her brother on the arm, her face red. "Stop that."**

 **Tad grinned. "Nice to know I'm not the only one your perky morning attitude annoys. I told you it was too much for a man to bear."**

 **Nick felt his own cheeks heat again. He hadn't meant to offend her. "I'm not annoyed by you, Brynna." He actually liked her alot. "I'm just not used to people like you talking to me with this much interest. It's kind of creeping me out. Feel like I've stepped into an alternate reality or something. You keep this up and I'm going to start looking for Raccoon City vans or something."**

 _Well,_ thought Valerius, _that seems to be the story of our very existence._

Marissa looked around, concern gracing her features. On one hand, she could connect to Nick as a fellow kid with overbearing parents. On the other...she looked at her father, her uncle, then leaned forward to eye her Godfather and his twin.

They all looked like they were agreeing with the majority of what Nick was feeling, and that didn't bode well.

 **Brynna frowned. "Raccoon what?"**

 **Tad snorted. "It's from the game Resident Evil, doof." He looked at Nick through the rearview mirror. "You have to forgive her, Nick. She doesn't play much. Just gabs on the phone with all her vacuous, self-absorbed friends."**

"Ouch. That's gotta burn. Who knew Tad could be so blunt?" Tabitha slowly clapped. "But _such truth_!"

Kyrian shook his head. "...I'm pretty sure sarcasm is a Job requirement for squires. Period."

 **She slid an offended glare to her brother.**

 **Nick mentally kicked himself.** _ **Why did I say that to her? I'm such an idiot.**_ **Here he sat in the nicest car he'd ever seen, riding to school with one of the prettiest girls in his class- one who was really decent- and he'd offended her.**

"Well, when you put it like _that_ -"

Katra tugged on Sin's collar before he could finish.

"Teenager, remember?"

"Oh, come on, everyone else is making smart ass comments-"

Katra gave him a look.

"Why do _I_ have to be the mature one…?" No, seriously. It's a problem. He's had thousands of years to perfect this little song and dance- where's Damien when you need him? Let _him_ be the mature one...for once.

 _ **I'm never going to have a girlfriend. I'm too stupid for one.**_

Nick sighed. Ambrose was right; his problem wasn't getting the girlfriend- it was keeping one. And did Artemis count? They never exactly sat down and tried to define anything. More like friends with benefits? Really awesome benefits, but still…

Savitar made a gagging motion from his throne. There were some things he just didn't need to know.

 **And if that wasn't bad enough, Tad pulled up to a nice house and honked.**

 **Three seconds later, the front door opened and Casey Woods came running out in her full black and gold cheerleader outfit that hugged every curve on her body...and for a fourteen-year-old girl, she had a lot of curves- unlike the rest of their female classmates. Her long wavy dark hair was pulled back from her face with a black and gold bow.**

"Casey Woods? Isn't she a squire?" Val asked, trying to compare what he knew of Nick's world to his own.

"Yeeep." Tabitha stated, punctuating the P on the end. "Never met her, though. I think Kyle mentioned her at one point. And I know Nick did…"

Ash frowned at the screen. "Didn't she go with you to prom?" Nick shook his head, forgetting that with Ash's back turned, he wouldn't see. And that, technically, since he still _had_ the memory of him and Casey at prom, that's what happened. But with how things were shaping up in the past…

He highly doubted he'd have that memory for much longer.

"Yeah…? I guess?" The uncertainty in his voice prompted Ash to cast him an odd look, but Nick ignored him. As per usual.

And well, There was that alternate universe where he'd gone with book-worm Casey to Prom, but then Ash's grandkid had driven him home, soo…

Yeah, best not to mention that.

 **A bright smile curled her lips as she ran to them.**

 _ **Oh, crap…**_

 **She was Brynna's best friend and, up until he'd met Kody, the one girl at school he'd sell his soul to have as his girlfriend. Unfortunately, Casey didn't know he even existed.**

 **Something brought brutally home as she opened the door to the car and paused with a frown on her beautiful face.**

 **Brynna didn't miss a beat. "Morning, Case. You know Nick?"**

 **Casey turned her head to look at him from the corner of her eyes as if trying to remember him. "Should I?"**

Ack. Well, okay then. Nick had not stretched the truth. Cadegan felt for the young lad at the girl's obvious confusion.

How...mortifying.

 _ **Yeah, why should you know me? We only have four classes together...**_ **and he sat directly in front of her in one of them.**

Sin winced. That _had_ to hurt. "How? This girl really a squire? With that attention to detail?" Katra bumped shoulders with him.

"High School, hon. Worse than Godly politics."

 _ **I might as well be invisible.**_

 **Nick caught the sight of Tad rolling his eyes in the rearview mirror. "We're going to be late, Case. Get in or step back into your yard and close the door."**

 **Tad's hostile tone caught him off guard. What magic pill did Tad take to be immune to her looks?**

 _Probably the same pill that gave him his intelligence. Lucky bastard._ Nick thought, highly impressed that Tad had seen through Casey's….select form of persuasiveness. Then again, he had been a senior, and all he must have seen was a spoiled princess instead of a hot cheerleader.

 **Glaring at him, Casey shrugged her Prada backpack off and tossed it into the SUV before she climbed in and sat next to Nick.**

 _ **Why didn't I sit up front with Tad?  
**_ _**Why, Lord, why?**_

 **Casey scowled at Brynna. "So is he like a new student or something? Does he speak english?"**

"Okay-" Tory started and then stopped her sentence, her hands out in front of her as if she couldn't get the correct words for way that statement bugged the living daylights out of her. " _There are better ways of phrasing and asking that question!"_ She felt personally offended that the girl was so...tactless. Geez, didn't anyone ever teach how not to be a douche?

 **Brynna slid a puzzled stare to Nick. "Nick's been going to school with us for the last three years."**

" **Oh...well, I'm in all advanced classes."**

 **Nick bit back a snort at her snotty comment.** _ **What am I? Special ed?**_

 **Then again, at the moment, he felt like this was the short bus to hell and that he had a reserved seat on it.**

 _How apropos._ Too bad he had never managed to get the heck off. Nick, deciding if he was on the short bus to hell he might have as well enjoy the ride, conjured a comfy love seat with a beer and beer holder in the armrest. With some beignets on the side. He was sick of standing and starting to get hungry.

And honestly, Casey's treatment of him wasn't too insulting, seeing as that _wasn't_ Casey Woods, but Zarelda having to access memories that weren't hers to begin with and then reacting real-time with information she should already know.

Looking back, he's actually impressed at how well she did her job. He felt a pang as he remembered what Noir did to her soul. Zavid...once again, he felt irritation for his past self boil inside him. If he hadn't left Zavid with that bitch, none of that would have happened. And even if Zarelda had been a shade, she'd still be with her brother.

Not floating the Abyss in the form of molecules, which is what she most likely disintegrated into.

 **Brynna opened her mouth to say something else, but Nick held his hand up to stop her from correcting Casey's mistaken conclusions about him before Casey made him feel any more worthless. "So, Tad, how 'bout them Saints?"**

 **Tad laughed at his switch in topic. "You know, Gautier, you might actually grow on me."**

" **Yeah, that's me. Kudzu Gautier."**

And honestly? This Nick was starting to grow on them, too. Which is odd, considering he was at their backs. But like this, they could almost pretend that Nick was just another character to a story- not a flesh and blood human being whose story doesn't end happily.

Almost.

Nothing could quite take away that buzz in the back of their skulls that warned them of the future.

 **Casey didn't get it, but Brynna did. Obviously the tenacious vine must have invaded Brynna's yard and taken it over.**

" **What's Kudzu?" Casey asked.**

 **Tad ignored her. "What the…"**

 **Nick looked out the window to see a boat load of police cars at the school as they slowed down. There were two ambulances and even a fire truck. "What's going on?"**

 **Tad shook his head. "Not sure…"**

 **Casey's face lit up. "Does this mean no school?" Oh, thank God, I didn't finish my social studies homework."**

"The horror of every student…" Tory whispered. Ash snorted.

"I'm confident you were the straight A student who never forgot their homework and agonized over the punctuation of every essay. Weirdo." He joked lightly. In fact, he already knew that to be the case, and lamented the amount of anxiety his wife had to go through. School sucks.

"Hey!" Tory and Nick both yelled at Ash, his comment completely unwarranted.

"Those essays were important!"

"Do you know how much shit I got for a single misspelled 'you're'? I swear, Ms. Pantall was trying to murder me!"

Tabitha laughed at their outraged cries. "I forget we've got two honor students in here who actually _cared_ about their school work."

Tory and Nick turned their ire on her, Tory's glasses flashing dangerously as if this were some anime, and Nick's eye spazzing between red and blue respectively.

(Tabitha noted that despite having her eyesight fixed, Tory still wore glasses on occasion out of habit.)

"Do I hear judgment?"

Tabitha giggled. "Never. Actually, there's a healthy dose of respect over here."

That dimmed Nick and Tory's anger respectively, but for all of high schools meaningless, it had been important to them. A step to the brighter future. It worked for Tory.

For Nick? Not so much.

 **The police wouldn't let them park in the school lot. Instead, they waved them down the street and away from the crowd. Tad went over to Royal and parked outside of Fifi Mahoney's. "I've got to know what's going on."**

 **Nick concurred. Leaving his backpack in the SUV, he walked over to the school with Tad and the girls.**

 **Many of the students were milling around in groups while reporters asked a few of them questions. Byrnna and Casey broke off to join their friends.**

 **Nick followed Tad as he headed over to Ms. Pantall, who was standing with three other teachers.**

" **Hey, Ms. P." Tad called, "what's going on?"**

 **She let out a slow breath before she answered. "You won't believe this...Brian Murrey tried to eat Scott Morgan."**

"Zombies now?" Jo questioned. Nick nodded.

"Zombies...but not exactly." She threw him a disgruntled look, while Cadegan looked on thoughtfully.

He was still being caught up to speed on modern pop culture, but the idea of rotting corpses? No, he'd spent way too much time in the Terre Derriere le voile to see it as a joke. Better to tear their throats out or drench them in holy water. Preferably in that order.

 **Nick's eyes widened at the unexpected explanation. Had he heard that right?**

 **Tad gaped. "What?"**

 **She nodded as she gestured toward the school entrance. "They were in the cafeteria before the bell, acting completely normal, when all of a sudden Brian attacked him for no reason. He started chewing on his arm and tearing at his skin like a rabid dog with a steak. I've never seen anything like it in my life. It was so gross."**

The images appeared on screen. The viewers grimaced at the gruesome sight, and Marissa quick to cover her eyes from the carnage...although she snuck a peek. There was just something about human cannibalism that made the stomach roll.

 **Tad passed a wide-eyed stare to Nick. "Is Scott all right?"**

 **In perfect timing to the question, Scott come out of the school on a stretcher with two EMTs watching over him.**

 **Nick drifted away from them so that he could listen in on a few other conversations, including that of a female reporter who was talking on her cell phone. There had to be more to this story than what Pantall was saying to Tad.**

" **I'm telling you, Bob, somethings going on. What with the attacks last night and now this...How many cities have six cannibal attacks in twelve hours?"**

 **Well, it was the Big Easy where they had a slack attitude over most things. But even the stoutest New Orleanian usually drew the line at eating human flesh.**

 **Most days, anyway.**

"...And you guys go there for fun?" Zakar questioned. The fact Nick isn't even perturbed by the idea of what 'Most New Orleanians' considered 'Normal'...

Actually, that's an excellent reason to go play hooky in New Orleans. Psycho humans made the supernatural ones appear sane. Everyone's happy. Win-win.

 **Then again, Halloween was just around the corner. If not for the cops, he might think it a prank.**

" **They're questioning the kid now. He seems out of it. Like his brains are rattled or something. But you should have seen the vic's arm. He tore it down to the bone and his classmates said he ate all the flesh like he was starving for it. You think it could be something voodoo related?"**

 **Yeah, any time something freaky happened, blame the Goth or the Vodoun communities-'cause normal people could** _ **never**_ **be insane.**

"Someone, define 'normal'...seriously. I keep trying to find a definition that works, but as far as I see it...not a damn person I've ever met is normal. Hell, even Amanda's Ex was as normal a joe as they come, and he wound up being adopted by a daimon…"

"Tabitha... _we don't talk about that."_

Marissa raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Umm…" Tabitha pressed her lips together as Amanda, Kyrian, _and_ her husband gave her a glare. "Ever wondered how your parent's met, sweetheart?"

"They woke up handcuffed together, right?" Kyrian choked on his diet soda (Apparently, he's still not allowed to have the good stuff- immortality be damned.)

"Who told you that?!" _It sure as hell wasn't me!_

"Uncle Talon….?"

 _That's it. He's Celtic shish-ka-bob._

 **Maybe he should remind the reporter that the infamous serial killer and cannibal Jeffery Dahmer hadn't been a voodoo worshipper either and Brian, until this, had been a normal jock like the rest of the team. A little dumber than most, but he was a poster child for normality.**

 **Until he tried to eat Scott…**

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'd think he definitely crossed that line of 'sane' to 'not sane.' "

"Oh, well, it's not that great of an indicator anyway…" Lydia slowly turned to look at her father-in-law disbelief.

"You're joking."

Set gazed up at the ceiling and hummed.

"I've seen A- _lot_ of crazy shit. Trust me when I say that eating human beings is not necessarily the mark of insanity." After all, demons weren't picky. But humans eating other humans? Even Seth had to draw a line, and he lived in Azmodea for the majority of his existence.

Nick opened his mouth to disagree with the primordial god, and then remembered: _Caleb._

Roasting humans over a campfire in the middle of BFE.

The same guy who kept Nick's head on straight with his astute observations.

 _Yeah, nevermind…_

Really pathetic when the irritable daeva was said humanities chiefest protector.

 **Nick moved away from her, closer to the ambulance where they were loading Scott. There was a white bandage over his arm that was red as more blood seeped through it.**

 **Scott was sobbing. "All I did as reach for his milk. He could have just said no. He didn't have to eat my arm...God, I'll never be able to throw a ball again. I'm gonna lose my scholarship, I know it. We'll never make it the state championship now. Terry can't throw for squat. Man, the season's over. Why? Why did he do this?"**

 **That seemed to be the question…**

" **Hey, kid! Get back behind the barricade."**

 **Nick nodded to the officer before he obeyed.**

"What." Kyrian whipped around and narrowed his eyes on the Cajun who slowly blocked his gaze with a half-eaten beignet.

"And just where was this immediate obedience when you were my Squire?"

Nick felt justifiably offended.

"It was a Police officer. And I would like to remind you, I excelled at my job. Don't even lie about the fact you took pleasure in bragging about my awesomeness to the world."

"Not even, Gautier."

"You're lying, Hunter." Kyrian snorted, but he couldn't refute Nick's claim. He may have posted some comments on the Dark Hunter website that could be misconstrued as 'bragging'.

Not his fault his squire beats all others.

And that the man still, _to this day_ , will come if Kyrian presses Nick's number on speed dial.

Fido, indeed.

" **Hey, Nick!" Frank McDaniel ran up to him. "Hear what happened? Brian ate Scott. How cool is that? Man, I wish I'd seen it. That's what I get for being late to school. I miss all the good stuff that happens."**

 **Jason laughed in agreement. "I just hope whatever got into him isn't catching. I don't want no one coming up and trying to gnaw on my flesh or me going after someone else. Sheez. My mom's a vegan. She grounded me for six months last summer when I ate a cheeseburger at Mcdonalds. Can you imagine how long she'd ground me for eating a person?"**

Eternity, most likely.

Set wrinkled his nose at the notion. Ancient Gods- not to hooked on the whole 'no meat' deal. Menyara scoffed.

"Don't even go there." She then smirked as if remembering a highly amusing story.

"After all, didn't you love eating lettuce?"

Bethany started giggling hysterically, and Seth blinked as his father's face became incredibly red and indigent. "That. Is _. Not What happened_. The people- they made it up-" Set finally glared at his sister.

"Why am I even defending myself to you?! You know what actually happened!"

Now Menyara was on the floor laughing.

Nick and the rest of those out of the loop stared at the group in confusion. What the heck were they talking about…? Nick was relieved he wasn't the center of attention for once, but seriously, what were they going on about.

Bethany waved her hand in Seth's direction, as if trying to dispel his confusion. "Papas. Lettuce. Horus. Nothing more need to be said." Seth glanced downward in thought before his face blushed considerably. He couldn't look his father in the face. He couldn't tell if he was more horrified or disgusted. But gauging by his sister's reaction, the reality was hopefully different from the legend. *****

"I didn't think that actually-"

"It. _DIDN'T._ FOR THE LOVE OF _RA_ -"

Zakar's eyes lit up in recognition before giving in to deep, belly laughter. Sin, unused to his twin's smiles before his captivity, simply stared in shock. Zakar wiped his eyes of tears before glancing at his best friend.

"Seriously, Set?"

The Primal God's eye pulsed gold.  
" _I will murder you and tear out your entrails with my teeth."_

"Pfft. This adorable god? Unlikely." Set bared his teeth at him.

Nick concluded that there were some things about Kody's family he would just _never_ get.

 **Frank cast a hungry look over to the group where Brynna and Casey were standing. "Oh man, if it is catching, I hope Casey Woods gets it and comes for me. If you gotta die, no better way to go than to get eaten by the head cheerleader."**

 **Jason high-fived him. "Yeah, all right. Sign me up for that too. I definitely want to be her chew toy."**

 **Nick ignored his friends** **as he caught sight of his lab partner Madaug St. James, who seemed to be muttering to himself as he stood off to the side of the ambulance. AN almost stereotypical nerd, Maduag had a black gamer T-shirt on underneath his blue button-down that had been left open, His dishwater blond hair was cropped short and he had large blue eyes that were always covered with thin-rimmed glasses.**

"Oh man, I haven't seen Maduag in forever. Wonder what that punk's doing now…" Tabitha smiled sadly. She couldn't believe she was saying this, but she actually missed the little twerp and his smart mouth backed by unbridled intelligence. As much as she hated Eric's guts for how he hurt her, it doesn't take away from the fact she knew Maduag for as long as she knew Eric. Mad-dog had been the irritating little brother she never had. Along with Nick.

"Probably living the life of a stereotypical genius…" Nick mentioned, having waking nightmares of Maduag taking over the world or using his supreme intelligence to become the next Tony Stark. It would happen, mark his words.

"Actually, I think he might be a squire by now." Kyrian muttered, trying to remember who was where. It'd been awhile since his last look at the site.

Nick snorted. _A Dorean Squire, hopefully._ Otherwise…

 _I pity the Dark-Hunter_.

They had no idea any and all arguments could and would be shut down with sheer scientific evidence in 0.9 nano seconds. If that.

 **Even though Nick knew the name was pronounced "Mah-dug," he, like most of the people in his class, usually pronounced it "Mad Dog." But that always irritated Madaug and right now he looked agitated enough.**

" **Hey, dude. You all right?"**

 **Madaug froze at his question. "Uh, yeah. It's terrible, isn't it?"**

" **Epically gruesome."**

 **Madaug nodded. "I can't believe it. I just can't believe it."**

Something about his tone was off, though. As if they were speaking to each other, but their topics of conversation weren't matching up. Tabitha, having been there, knew why, but it was fun to see the others out of the loop for once.

 **Neither could Nick. "Well, I guess the bright side is you don't have to worry about Scott or Brian picking on you today in gym class, right?" Last time Nick had been in school, Brian had worn Maduag's gym shorts and then forced Madaug into them after he'd sweated all over them.**

 **Gross and nasty.**

They scrunched their noses up in disgust.

 _Seriously?_ Urian thought, highly disturbed. Then again his brothers- well...adopted brothers tended to get serious with their pranks, so it's not like he hasn't seen worse- but still.

Gross, man. At least his brothers would just physically beat each other to a pulp.

Who in their right mind thought _that_ would be a good idea?

 **Maduag didn't respond to his question as he continued to fret.**

 **Out of the crowd, one loud voice suddenly drowned the others out. "I'm telling you people, it's a zombie attacK. Z to the O to the M to the B to the I, E. Zombie. Open your eyes, people, before it's too late and he eats someone else. Any of you could be next on the Zombie apocalypse Menu. Heed my words and stock up on ammo! I got a new shipment coming in today!"**

"Awww, yea! Triple B time!" Tabitha whopped.

" 'Triple B'...?" Valerius questioned. Honestly, exactly how much about his wife did he not know? And did he really want find out…? Tabitha slapped him on the back before leaning in and kissing him smack on the mouth.

"Oh, trust me, you're going to love this guy. He was my go-to for weapon sharpening and back-up, and even better, he never questioned or scolded me on the fact I was hunting vamps. One of the few who never looked at me like I was crazy."

Amanda blinked at her sister's high praise. If what she said is true, than she had someone to thank. Everyone had kind of waved Tabitha's habits as being eccentric and never gave them much thought until Desiderius. If she had at least someone in her life that had actually _listened_...it eased some of the guilt Amanda felt.

 **Nick knew that voice. He just wasn't used to hearing it this early in the day.**

 **Big Bubba Burdette, the owner of Triple B store.**

 **Wow, and Bubba hadn't burst into flames by getting up this early in the morning. Who knew? He'd have sworn the man was half vampire.**

Nick loosed a small smile at his teen self's voice. Really, Bubba could have passed as a vampire- he even kept similar hours to Kyrian. The only difference was that he could go outside.

If needed.

Or the world was ending. Which, let's be honest, was every time Nick walked out the front door.

 **Standing well over six feet tall, Bubba was an interesting mix of redneck and Goth. Case in point, he had on a Dawn of the Dead T-shirt with a red fannel shirt pulled on over it. His baggy jeans were complemented by a nice pair of black Doc Martens that were decorated with Red Skulls. With short black hair and a goatee, Bubba was terrifying to behold. But the minute he opened his mouth and that thick southern drawl came out, he looked less like a threat and more like a giant fluffy panda bear.**

"I'm pretty sure he'd feel insulted if he knew that." Ash commented, glancing at Nick.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides, I speaketh nothing but the truth."

Set eyed the man in contemplation. Other than a little eccentricity, he seemed like a perfectly normal human. But it was obvious the Malachai held him in regard...so he would reserve judgment until he could determine who the human actually was.

 **At least so long as you didn't interrupt his watching Oprah in the afternoon. Bubba said anyone dumb enough to do that deserved to have his entrails spilled.**

"Oprah?" Sin muttered, aghast. "Really?"

Nick raised his right hand in solemn oath, the left placed firmly on his chest. "Those were the most terrifying moments in my life. Having to go up the stairs, knock on the door, and face the beast that was Triple B because some stupid moron had to go and demand to see the manager. You couldn't pay me enough money to do _that_ willingly."

Tory raised a brow. " 'Demand to see the manager?' "

Nick nodded. "Yeah, he ran a store near Erzulie's and the sandwich shop. People would come in, be dumb, then ask to see Bubba...worst mistake of their lives."

 **And that thick drawl made most people underestimate a man whose IQ was odd the charts. In fact, Bubba had graduated at the top of his class from MIT with degrees in both computer science and robotics. Now, he owned Triple B- a gun and computer store where you could hire Bubba to hack into anything in the world, legal or otherwise, and if that didn't work, he'd shoot it for you just to put it out of your misery.**

Styxx straightened his back. "I like this guy. Do you think he can explain why computers are the bane of humanity? And if he's willing to shoot my laptop?"

"Sure, and he'll shoot the screen for free. If you want it blown up, y'all have to pay extra." Nick recited in a drawl, the customer's sale pitch coming back full force.

 **The reporters left Bubba as they tried to interview more students.**

 **Bubba spat a bit of his chewing tobacco onto the pavement. "That's right, troglodytes, ignore the only one who knows what's going on. The only one who knows how to save your putrid, insignificant lives. Go back to your media-induced comas where you believe all the crap spieled by greedy politicians who control you with ill-conceived lies and consumer-driven distractions."**

"Well, damn. I think I agree with my Son-in-law on this. He gets straight to it, doesn't he?" Set nodded his head in approval.

Menyara chuckled. "Michael's a rare man, indeed."

Nick shuddered. "Don't call him Michael, Aunt Mennie. It gives me the heebie-jeebies. Bubba is a Bubba is a freakin' Bubba." Seriously, people. Get with the program.

" **Aren't those consumer-driven distractions what keep you in business, Bubba?" Nick asked as he approached him.**

 **Bubba narrowed his dark brown eyes on Nick with disgust. "Don't sass me, Nick. I'm not a morning person and I might take my ill mood out on you."**

" **Yeah, I know. So what are you doing up at this hour, anyway?"**

" **Haven't slept. Got a call from Finegerman at oh dawn thirty telling me there were zombies on the loose and that he needed reinforcement. So I grabbed my gun and we went hunting in the bayou."**

Styxx smiled at the ire on the Man's face. It so resembled his teacher that he couldn't help but feel a rapport with the man. He hoped to meet him someday, seeing as they both frequented New Orleans.

 **Normal people might find this conversation odd, but then all conversations with Bubba were odd, and zombie hunting was just another service he offered at his store.**

Zakar scoffed. "What does it say for us that conversation sounded pretty reasonable, not odd?"

Sin gave his twin a droll stare. "Damned. Duh."

" **Mark get eaten?"**

" **Nah, the little wuss fell asleep on the way back to the store. He's cuddled up in the front seat like an infant girl, sucking his thumb and holding his jacket tucked under him like a pillow. Don't know what I'm going to do with him."**

 **Nick opened his mouth to make another comment when he realized that conversations had stopped. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Turning his head, he saw Brian being led out of the school in handcuffs.**

 **Except for the blood marring his letterman's jacket, he looked normal. Completely. Totally. Normal. Yeah, his skin was a little pale and his eyes sunken like he hadn't slept well. But other than that…**

 **No one could tell he'd tried to eat his best friend.**

"Is it just me…" Jo's eye twitched in extreme discomfort. "...or does he look even creepier _because_ he looks normal?" Lydia seconded her observation.

"Yeah, that kind of threw us for a loop. Didn't matter, of course- we still tried to stake them. But the whole normal-thing didn't fall under the natural process of conversion. 'Cause, they weren't, you know, _dead_." Tabitha pointed out, yawning.

 **Brian slowed as he neared the captain of the team. Their gazes locked in such a way that it seemed like they were communicating without speaking.**

 **The cops shoved him forward.**

 **Brian kept his gaze on the captain until he was forced into the police car.****

Bethany blinked, before sitting up straighter. It was just a face in the crowd, just a flash, but she could have sworn she saw…

No, why would he hang around the Malachai? It went against his oath- then again, it'd been over 14,000 years since she last saw him. Not since the Chthonian war…

Not since he'd been forced to track her down and stop her rampage.

Styxx rubbed her arm. "You saw that?"

She nodded, biting her lip. If he was still alive- if he was out there-

She would very much like to see him.

 **Nick looked at Bubba. "Is it just me or was that weird?"**

 **Bubba gave him a droll stare. "Is there any part of this day that hasn't been weird, boy?"**

 **Good point.**

"Welcome to our life." Urian waved a twizzler around. "Daily weirdness on a scale of 'I woke up cheerful this morning' to 'The End of the World.' Thanks for playing."

" **So what do you think caused this?" Nick asked.**

 **Bubba scratched his head. "That I'm trying to figure out. Normal Zombie attacks-"**

 **That made Nick wonder what would qualify as an** _ **ab**_ **normal attack.**

Kyrian grinned; the unimpressed look on teen Nick's face…

Priceless.

" **\- are done by dead people brought back from their graves. They're under the control of their masters and attack humans to get a taste of blood. But this...the kid wasn't dead yet. Makes no sense to me."**

" **Maybe someone spiked his wheaties?"**

Ash snorted; Nick delt that out with a such a dry delivery, you could almost be led to believe Nick was literal in his suggestion.

Best part was was look of contemplation on his face- as if he was considering how, exactly, one would go about spiking the wheaties. Add a liquid to the milk first, or dry powder to the cereal?

...Gods, his best friend had been spastic 14-year-old.

What exactly did that say about _him_?

 **Bubba shook his head. "Well, there is some chemicals what can give a human zombie-like symptoms. But none of them make a person eat another one. Maybe it's some Bioterrorism test being run by the government. Don't be drinking no tap water or seafood until I do some testing."**

 **Nick grinned. "I don't normally drink my seafood Bubba, but-"**

" **Don't get smart with me, Gautier. I still got loaded weapons from last night."**

Marissa giggled at the bright grin Nick had up on screen. It was kinda fun- a lot of fun- to watch Uncle Nick rankle the big bearded Bubba's day. The threat didn't even seen that bad when Nick was grinning at it.

 **Nick opened his mouth to speak, but a hysterical scream silenced him.**

" **Oh my God! The coach just ate Mr. Peters! Someone help! Help!"**

 **The police went running into the school as the secretary came dashing out, screaming in terror and tearing at her hair.**

 **Nick froze as those words about Peters seeped into his brain. On one hand he was horrified the man had been eaten. On the other…**

 **He was strangely happy. The sanctimonious pig kind of deserved it.**

"Aye, although I fret the boy's Malachai is showing a wee bit." Aeron muttered, pointing the jab in Nick's direction. Thorn gave the Celt an irritated glance.

"Could you take this seriously?" Aeron lifted a brow, transitioning between is default desire to punch Thorn in the face (A sentiment shared by many, he's sure.) and actually giving a feck'.

He considered it.

"Nay. Can't say that I can. Personally, I find this all very amusing."

Thorn's finger's gripped the sleeves of his dress suit where his arms were crossed- why on earth was he still in a _suit?_ That couldn't be comfortable- his anger palpable. But he didn't grip Aeron by his neck in an attempt to throw him- which would have ended in a bloody mess, seeing as Aeron had a track history of kicking Thorn's ass, and nor did he start ranting in obscenities, to Aeron's misfortune. He could have used a show.

No, Thorn chose the high road, which meant reclining in his chair and conjuring some spirit to drink.

Cadegan held his hand out, smirking.

Thorn scowled. "I'm not sharing."

Jo's puppy eyes came out full throttle, and Cadegan gave him the 'Brother-You've-betrayed-me' look.

A tankard apparated in Cadegan's hands.

 _Damn brats._

 _ **Nick, that's so wrong.**_ **He heard his mom's voice in his head. Yeah, maybe it was, but he still couldn't help thinking it was some kind of divine payback.**

 **The police forced the crowd back as the media rushed the school, trying to get photos and footage.**

 **Suddenly, the vice principal was outside with a bullhorn. "School is canceled for the day. Students go home. We'll be calling later in the day with information. Please...disperse and leave. Any students found on campus will be suspended. Now go home and don't come back here today."**

"Well, shit. That's something I never thought would be spoken aloud in a high school. Stay on campus? Get suspended? No thanks. I will gladly walk my happy behind back home." Tabitha railed against the unfair system, and that Gautier had reaped all the benefits of going to the only supernatural school of the city.

"Oh, sure, it was loads of fun with asshole werewolves on the football team, gossiping squires," -of course, he had been one of those squires, but no need to mention that- "Killer coaches, random acts of death, unholy detention, and, you know. Gorgon teachers."

Marissa perked up. "Gorgons? Really?"

Nick shrugged. "No evidence yet, but I'm pretty sure either Ms. Pantall or Richardson is one. All I need is evidence…"

"Sounds exciting." Styxx offered. Honestly, he'd still trade Nick for his school experience any day- not that he'd envy being hated and humiliated, but seeing as that had been a daily part of his own life, nothing would have changed much. At least he'd be around people in New Orleans and eat good food.

The only downer would Galen not being his sword instructor...and for that alone, he would never truly want to trade places with Nick.

" **And hopefully tomorrow too," one of the students shouted.**

 **Bubba spat more tobacco out. "It's good to be you today, huh?"**

" **Yeah, as long as I don't get eaten by my football team...Can I come hang in your store and do some research on this?"**

 **Bubba nodded. 'Sure, but you've got to open it for me and watch it while I catch some Z's."**

 **That sounded fair to Nick. "Let me get my backpack and I'll head straight over." he left Bubba to find Tad, who was standing in a large group of seniors.**

 **Intent on their discussion, none of them saw him.**

" **I'm telling you, we need to notify the council and the Dark-Hunters. This has Daimon written all over it."**

O-kay, that was unexpected. Kyrain faced Nick in abject surprise. "You found out about the Dark Hunters before I told you?"

Nick shook his head, chuckling under his breath. "No...not exactly. I did learn a lot of crap I shouldn't have at the time, but no, you were still the one who ended up breaking the news to me."

Kyrian frowned. "You were more exposed than I thought."

Nick saw himself in the past, his older self growling in his face-

 _Because of you-_

 _Everyone we love-_

 _Who would you rather save-_

Nick pushed the words away..

"Yeah. Way... _way_ more exposed."

" **Not in daylight, it don't. Daimons can't attack until the sun goes down and you know that. They'd be toast if they stepped one foot outside right now."**

" **But there were more attacks last night and this is spreading. My money says it's Daimon related. They're doing something. Mark my words."**

 **One of the seniors rolled his eyes. "A Daimon can't convert a human. That's the first lesson we're all taught."**

" **Then what do you think it is? It has to be related to them. There's nothing else it could be."**

"Can someone please explain to me why a bunch of squires who should have known better were gossiping in the middle of public school zone?" Chi asked, cursing darkly under her breath. She'd been so quiet they'd almost forgotten she was present.

"Ah...technically, that's a Squire training ground. Normally, It's safe…"

Nick raised a brow at Kyrian's explanation.

"To converse in." He amended. Kyrian fiddled with the car keys in his pocket. "For the most part, as long as the individuals involved in the discussion are all aware of what's at stake. Had they realized they were being overheard, they would have done their best to remedy the situation."

 **Tad narrowed his eyes on his friend Alex Peltier, who'd been silent the whole time. "Can a Were-Hunter bite turn humans into werebeasts?"**

" **What's a Were-Hunter?" Nick asked before he could stop himself.**

Kyrian seemed to have pegged the squires accurately- good to know there were still those who stood by oaths made. Their next actions were exactly as Kyrian predicted

 **They faced him and clammed up immediately.**

Chi shrugged at the display. You could never be too careful.

 **Russell Jordan, who'd been doing the most talking, curled his lip as if Nick disgusted him. "What are you doing here, Trailer Park?"**

Jo rolled her eyes. _Even the squires? No wonder Nick was a sarcastic little ball of sunshine._

Thorn grunted, amused but not wanting to admit it.

 **Tad cleared his throat. "He's working for Kyrian now. Be nice, Russ, or Kyrian won't be happy." he faced Nick. "What can I do for you?"**

" **I wanted to get my backpack out of your truck."**

" **I'll be right back," Tad said to his friends before he led Nick away from them.**

 **Nick scowled as he followed after Tad. "So what's a Were-Hunter?"**

" **It's a...a gamer's term. Somebody who hunts animals."**

Riiiight. Like Nick would _ever_ buy that scrabble letter…

Seriously, how stupid did Tad think he was?

 **That didn't make any sense and it was a term he'd never heard before. "If it's just a game, why did you ask if they could turn a human?"**

 **Tad didn't answer. Instead, he led Nick to his SUV, pulled out his backpack, and then left him there to watch while Tad went back to his friends.**

 _ **Thanks for all the nonanswers.**_ **Tad was going to make a great parent one day.**

Marissa chuckled at the sarcastic quip, completely understanding where Nick was coming from. Amanda gave her daughter a look of betrayal. "Ris! How could you!"

"Sorry, Mama."

Then again, there were a lot of things no one wanted to share with her- not out of cruelty, they just didn't think she was ready for them. But some things she'd learned just by listening and watching. By watching Nick...Oh, yeah, Uncle Nick is gonna spill _aaaalll_ the secrets.

'Uncle Nick' smacked his forehead.

 **But in the meantime, "Something weird is going on here."**

Understatement. Of the year. God, had he ever been so oblivious? Obviously, but watching it was just

 **Something half the people in his school seemed to know about. And if it was the last thing he did, he was going to find out what this secret was. Even if it killed him.**

 _Famous last words, dumbass._

Nick shook his head in disgust.

 **Most of all, he was going to find out some way to protect himself, 'cause he had no intention of losing what little brain matter he had.**

 **New Orleans was definitely getting weird and Nick wasn't about to be added to anyone's menu.**

 **Except maybe Nekoda, who was strangely missing from the crowd…**

 **Had something grabbed her last night and added** _ **her**_ **to it's menu?**

Nick's legitimate concern was even funnier than the corny phase. The majority of the room knew Kody to be an Arel, and knew without a doubt she could stand her own. All those who didn't quite 'get' the concept were quickly brought up to speed. Mainly Jo.

"So...let me get this straight. Nick's Girlfriend-" she pointed at the man, "was an angel?"

"No." Thorn shook his head. "Angels = different species. She was an Arel- a cosmic soldier for Camp Psyco-Heaven that I mentioned earlier. She would have been given missions to protect the balance of the world, and then tasked to follow those orders to the letter. Obviously, her 'mission' had been to kill the Malachai. And yet here he stands." Thorn used his hands to showcase Nick, as if he were an exhibition piece at an auction.

Nick rolled his eyes, mildly offended "Her orders were to kill me _if_ I turned. _If_ I lost control. That never happened. And…" Nick's eyes flicked to Bathymaas and Styxx before looking away.

He couldn't do it.

He couldn't tell them. Should probably get around to doing that before they find out from the Screen of Humiliation that he ends up killing their daughter in the future, but _JK_ she comes back in time to date him instead…

 _Nope._ No matter how many times he thinks about it, that plan combusts in his face.

Bethany caught the look, and her mind wandered. Exactly how much did this boy know? And if Caleb had really been near his school- at his school- her eyes widened as a conversation from before Nick's collapse came back to her.

"Caleb. You guys said Caleb." Bethany ******* hadn't paid attention to it, because...well, there were a lot of Caleb's in the world. To think her Eperon General and...Nick's...Friend? Would be the same person is...remarkable.

To good to be true, in fact.

But the moment Ash blinked and smacked his forehead, she knew it was real.

"That's right. You guys knew him way back when- sometimes I forget about that stuff. He hung around Nick all the damn time-" Ash paused as a thought occurred to him. "I never knew why, though." He turned to look over at the Cajun, still puzzled but starting to get the picture.

Bethany apparated in front of Nick, eyes intent.

"Where is he?"

Startled, Nick took a step back.

"Um." Eyes clear and focused, Bathymaas herded Nick until he was pressed into his seat, momentarily terrified.

 _Kody's Mom is going to kill me dead-_

Why had he been scared of Styxx? Obviously, he'd been focused on the wrong parent-

Aunt Mennie came to his rescue, gently pulling on her niece's arm.

"Please, Bet. There are things I still wish for you to see. And-" she raised her hand before Bethany - and Styxx who had joined them- could argue with her. "-You'll get to see Caleb and what trouble he's been getting up to in your absence." Bethany gave a sharp nod, but Styxx looked amused- after all, Caleb had been his general once upon time. To think his superior could 'get up to trouble' was _highly_ entertaining.

Nick waved them off. "Trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet."

They went back to their seats, but not before Bathymaas gave him a warning look, which meant one thing:

He would tell them where Caleb was at a later time, or face the consequences.

Seriously? And here he thought it was Kody her parents would murder him over.

Nah, Apparently that honor went to Caleb.

 _Great._

 **000000000000000000**

Vawn tapped his fingernails on the bar, debating.

This wasn't good. Nick had another attack, and it'd hadn't been that long from the last one. And worse...

The demon had acted as if he'd never seen Vawn before. Which only meant one thing.

That he _hadn't_ known Vawn until that moment.

Regardless of what team you're on, shit changing this fast wasn't good for anyone. Something had to be done, before everything went to shit. And with their key player currently wrapped up on Surfer-Paradise-Island, they couldn't do jack. Well...

At least, Vawn couldn't.

The Banshee fetched his phone out of his pocket.

 _"What."_

"Well, hello to you too. Mind helping out a wee damsel?"

 _"Hell no."_

'What about our favorite Ragin' Cajun?"

 **000000000000000**

 ***I'm pretty sure Urian still has his fangs. In _Styxx_ , he mentioned having to learn how to chew again, and having fangs made re-learning the skill pretty damn difficult.**

 **** I'm just sayin', y'all. Set, Horus, and lettuce. Look it up. I think Mrs. Kenyon's take on that particular piece of mythology would be hilarious...or completely traumatizing. Nevermind, let's pretend I said nothing…**

 ***** Okay, so I know there's been some confusion of whether it was Caleb or Stone who was the Captain of the football team. For this story, I'm going to go with Caleb, because it makes sense for him to put himself in a position where he wouldn't have to obey Stone, instead of the other way around. And once Nick joined football, I think he wound up in the position anyway. So even if Stone's character sheet does say he was the captain of the football team, I don't think he was actually in that position for long. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe someone else had been the captain, but for ease of reading, Caleb be it. Sorry if that's not accurate, or makes no sense.  
**

 ****** Not sure if you guys noticed, but sometimes I switch between using Bethany's and Bathymaas' names. I know Bethany is Bathymaas reborn- so 'Bathymaas' is technically dead, but since Bethany has her memories, sometimes I feel that there are moments where she is more 'Bathymaas' Goddess of Justice and Set's adopted daughter, than 'Bethany', daughter of Set and Symfora who was partially raised in the Atlantean Pantheon. I wasn't sure if that upset anybody. Also, Caleb is listed as Bathymaas' Best Friend, so I think reuniting with him again, if he lived and hasn't gone to the dark side, would definitely be on her bucket list.**

 **Holy crap, Nick and Bathymaas share a bestie! -RS  
**

 **P.S I will go back an edit spelling mistakes/story inconsistencies/whatever I don't like and what not, but enjoy what's there? Also sorry if it doesn't flow real well. I'm out of practice.  
**

 **P.S.S HAVE AN EXCELLENT DAY! Rock on.  
**


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